The federal government has approved a $21 million dollars contract for the construction of a metering system for 187 crude oil flow stations in the country to curb oil theft.

Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for petroleum resources (Oil), disclosed this on Friday in Abuja while briefing journalists on some of the latest developments in the oil and gas sector.

The minister said the Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided over by President Bola Tinubu, approved the contract on Wednesday, saying that it was a bold step to reorganise the oil and gas sector.

The metering flow refers to the process of measuring and regulating the flow rate of a fluid (liquid or gas) through a system.

“One of the key approvals by the FEC has to do with awarding a contract for the metering of our 187 flow stations across the Niger Delta region by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

“NUPRC is the apex regulatory commission for the Nigerian oil and gas upstream sector. As part of our steps to ensure that we have proper accountability, FEC approves the metering of all our oil production.

“We have 187 flow stations in the country across the Niger Delta area, and there is a contract awarded for us to meter all the flow stations to be able to properly account for what we produce and export.

“This is a major development and this project is meant to be completed within six months, 180 days,’’ he said.

Mr Lokpobiri said it was paramount for Nigerians to know some of the key steps that the government was taking to ensure maximised opportunities that other countries were getting by the availability of oil and gas.

The minister disclosed the second key issue approved as advanced cargo, which he described as part of the steps towards ensuring accountability of production and Nigerians getting maximum value from her resources.

“The second memo that was approved by the council has to do with what we call the advanced cargo, which means we are awarding a contract to a company that will provide the technology within 180 days.

“This will enable us to know from the point of loading of every cargo of crude oil that is loaded in Nigeria up to the point of destination.

“From terminals, I can stay in my office and know when it is taken off from Nigeria up to the final destination.”

He said these new developments were major steps to tackle oil theft because it would ascertain from the beginning what was being produced to the point of loading from the terminals up to the point of destination.

He said FEC approved the memo and awarded the contract to be delivered within 180 days and to provide the software by the NUPRC to ensure proper monitoring of crude oil loaded from terminals to final destination.

This, he said, would ramp up production for national revenue; hence, oil remained the fastest way to raise funding to address economic and social problems.

He said this digital system would also ensure that the database and the control centre were dedicated to tracking crude oil export from the point of loading to the final point.

(NAN)