Nigeria lost 3.33 million barrels of crude oil to theft in 2025 despite the Federal Government’s N48 billion annual pipeline surveillance contract to Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited owned by Government Ekpemupolo Tompolo and other private security outfits.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) disclosed this in its 2025 annual report released on Thursday, which also showed its revenue dropped by N2.14 trillion.
Crude and gas revenue collections fell to N10.42 trillion in 2025 from N12.56 trillion in 2024, representing a 17.03% decline.
The report said theft peaked in Q4 with 2.19 million barrels, accounting for 65.8% of annual losses and nearly five times the 440,434 barrels recorded in Q3. It recorded 896,471 barrels in Q1, while Q2 showed a negative 200,400 barrels due to excess volumes identified during reconciliation.
The losses occurred amid rising security costs. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) spent N8.67 trillion on energy security in 2025, up from about N3.1 trillion in 2024.
Despite theft, total production stood at 541.08 million barrels of crude and blended condensate – 132.70m barrels in Q1, 137.69m in Q2, 137.45m in Q3 and 133.23m in Q4 – plus 48.52 million barrels of unblended condensate.
On revenue performance, oil and gas royalties remained the highest earner at N8.97 trillion in 2025 compared to N11.08 trillion in 2024, down by N2.11 trillion or 19.03%.
However, gas flare penalties increased from N391.26bn to N611.42bn, signature bonuses from N369.58bn to N532.94bn, concession rentals from N23.71bn to N38.19bn and miscellaneous revenue from N35.20bn to N46.44bn.
Lease renewals dropped sharply from N230.73bn to N8.23bn and royalty by price from N313.72bn to N213.41bn.
The Commission generated N10.42tn against a projected N16.54tn target, achieving 63% performance, while its total income from cost of collection and IGR rose 21.85% to N342.81bn.
It also reported 357 oil spill incidents, with sabotage responsible for 49.5%.
