Oil giant Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has blamed Nigeria’s economic woes, including the free fall of the naira value and high cost of living on unabated oil theft and assets vandalism, IgbereTV reports
The Country Head, Corporate Relations of SPDC, Igo Weli, said this during an interaction with the media in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Tuesday.
He argued that with heavy reliance on oil proceeds, even when oil prices were currently above $100, Nigeria still struggles because of low output induced by crude oil theft, adding that with low output comes low income in foreign exchange.
He warned that unless urgent action was taken to halt the ceaseless oil theft, the nation was headed for a period when government would have to spend half of its budget cleaning up the mess resulting from crude oil theft and illegal refining of petroleum products.
“We can link most of the problems to the fact of these illegal activities going on. People are so bold and proud of it.
“Sometimes people call into radio programmes to hail them because they assume people who engage in bunkering are doing so because they are hungry and do not have jobs
