Federal Government says it has commenced the monitoring and tracking of vessels involved in crude oil lifting to help curb crude theft in the country.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, disclosed this at the ongoing Nigerian International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) in Abuja.
He said that the Federal Government had acquired the capacity to monitor vessels operating in Nigeria.
He added that government had observed irregularities in the movement of some of the vessels mandated to lift crude oil from Nigeria.
Kachikwu said the data observed from the activities from the movement of vessels would help determine the various loading points of the vessels, the dead weight of the vessels and the volume of crude oil lifted from the country by the vessels.
The Minister noted that the tracking programme would be extended to the downstream sector, to determine the volume of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, imported into the country.
(NAN)
