THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Nigerian Navy announced in March 2014 that it had destroyed 260 illegal oil refineries and burned 100,000 tons of contraband fuel to try to halt oil thefts that are bedeviling the economy of Africa’s largest petroleum producer.
Commanding officer Capt. Musa Gemu said sailors of the NNS Delta destroyed the refineries in the Warri South-West area of the southern Delta region. The team also arrested five suspects.
Similar missions in the past have failed to slow the estimated daily thefts of 200,000 barrels of oil worth more than $20 million. Critics and analysts say most oil is stolen by politically connected criminal cartels and sold on the international market. The small-time criminals targeted in such attacks can reconstruct crudely built sites in days.
Shell Nigeria, the biggest operator, says it lost $1 billion to oil thefts in 2013.