Edo Governor, Godwin Obaseki said the nation lost about 22 million barrels of its crude oil production to oil theft between January and June 2019.
Obaseki disclosed this in a statement issued by Ndu Ughamadu, the Spokesman for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation( NNPC) on Thursday.
He said that if nothing was done to curtail the ugly trend, the figure could double by the end of the year.
The governor, also chairman of the ad hoc committee of the National Economic Council on Crude Oil Theft spoke at a stakeholders meeting held at the NNPC Towers.
He said the menace of oil theft and pipeline vandalism were beginning to pose a threat to the national economy.
The governor called on stakeholders to join forces and work toward eradicating the menace of crude oil theft that was currently on an upward swing in the country.
The NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) for June revealed a 77 percent rise in cases of oil pipeline vandalization across its network of pipeline infrastructure.
According to the report, 106 pipeline points were breached, representing an alarming increase from the 60 points vandalized in May 2019.
