Fed Govt loses N1.3b daily to Avengers’ attacks on oil facilities

Sustained attacks on pipelines by Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) have led to the daily loss of 140,000 barrels of crude from oil fields operated in Bayelsa State by Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and Aiteo Oil, it was learnt yesterday.

Using $48 per barrel price benchmark, the two oil firms are losing an estimated $6.72m (about N1.3 billion).

Eni, an Italian energy firm and parent company of Agip, said the oil firm’s production had been cut by 65,000 barrels per day following last Friday’s attack on its pipeline in Bayelsa.

Previous attacks in Agip oilfield on May 18 and May 24 were said to have resulted in a shutdown of some 5,200 barrels of the company’s equity share of oil output.

A company source, who pleaded for anonymity,  confirmed the development yesterday.