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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
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Results for oil theft
6 results foundAuthor: Katsouris, Christina Title: Nigeria's Criminal Crude: International Options to Combat the Export of Stolen Oil Summary: This report analyses the international dimensions of Nigerian crude oil theft and explores what the international community could do about it. - Nigerian crude oil is being stolen on an industrial scale. Nigeria lost at least 100,000 barrels of oil per day, around 5% of total output, in the first quarter of 2013 to theft from its onshore and swamp operations alone. Some of what is stolen is exported. Proceeds are laundered through world financial centres and used to buy assets in and outside Nigeria, polluting markets and financial institutions overseas, and creating reputational, political and legal hazards. It could also compromise parts of the legitimate oil business. - Officials outside Nigeria are aware that the problem exists, and occasionally show some interest at high policy levels. But Nigeria's trade and diplomatic partners have taken no real action, and no stakeholder group inside the country has a record of sustained and serious engagement with the issue. The resulting lack of good intelligence means international actors cannot fully assess whether Nigerian oil theft harms their interests. - Nigeria's dynamic, overcrowded political economy drives competition for looted resources. Poor governance has encouraged violent opportunism around oil and opened doors for organized crime. Because Nigeria is the world's 13th largest oil producer - exports often topped two million barrels per day in 2012 - high rents are up for grabs. The report recommends the following four first steps for building a cross-border campaign against Nigerian oil theft: - Nigeria and its prospective partners should prioritize the gathering, analysis and sharing of intelligence. - Nigeria should consider taking other steps to build the confidence of partners. - Other states should begin cleaning up parts of the trade they know are being conducted within their borders. - Nigeria should articulate its own multi-point, multi-partner strategy for addressing oil theft. Details: London: Chatham House (The Royal Institute of International Affairs), 2013. 85p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 26, 2015 at: http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/chathamhouse/public/Research/Africa/0913pr_nigeriaoil.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Nigeria URL: http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/chathamhouse/public/Research/Africa/0913pr_nigeriaoil.pdf Shelf Number: 131149 Keywords: Maritime CrimeOil TheftOrganized Crime |
Author: Maehler, Annegret Title: Nigeria: A Prime Example of the Resource Curse? Revisiting the Oil-Violence Link in the Niger Delta Summary: This paper studies the oil�]violence link in the Niger Delta, systematically taking into consideration domestic and international contextual factors. The case study, which focuses on explaining the increase in violence since the second half of the 1990s, confirms the differentiated interplay of resource�]specific and non�]resource�]specific causal factors. With regard to the key contextual conditions responsible for violence, the results underline the basic relevance of cultural cleavages and political�]institutional and socioeconomic weakness that existed even before the beginning of the "oil era." Oil has indirectly boosted the risk of violent conflicts through a further distortion of the national economy. Moreover, the transition to democratic rule in 1999 decisively increased the opportunities for violent struggle, in a twofold manner: firstly, through the easing of political repression and, secondly, through the spread of armed youth groups, which have been fostered by corrupt politicians. These incidents imply that violence in the Niger Delta is increasingly driven by the autonomous dynamics of an economy of violence: the involvement of security forces, politicians and (international) businessmen in illegal oil theft helps to explain the perpetuation of the violent conflicts at a low level of intensity. Details: Hamburg, Germany: German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), 2010. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: GIGA Working paper No. 120: Accessed August 30, 2016 at: https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/system/files/publications/wp120_maehler.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Nigeria URL: https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/system/files/publications/wp120_maehler.pdf Shelf Number: 140097 Keywords: Natural ResourcesOilOil TheftPolitical CorruptionViolence |
Author: Emordi, Kingsley Emeka Title: Victims, villains or heroes? : the local community perception of oil bunkering in the Niger delta Summary: Grounded on a political ecology approach, this study sheds light on oil bunkering activity that is done by local militants in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Such oil bunkering is used as a euphemism for oil theft in Nigeria. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the perception of oil bunkering that is done by groups (militants) of the local communities of the Niger Delta. By collecting and comparing the narratives of the three actors linked to so-called illegal oil bunkering. The three actors are the locals of the Niger Delta, the Nigerian government and the multinational oil companies (MNOCs). Such Oil bunkering that is done by the local militants of the Niger Delta has dominated the local politics since the 1990s. Through narrative analysis I have identified three different stories from the three different actors. The government and the Multinational oil companies (MNOCs) operating in the Niger Delta perceives, such oil bunkering is seen as illegal activity that affects the nation's economy, as well as causing environmental degradation in the Niger Delta. However, oil have contributed enormously to the national economy since the inception of oil exploration in the Niger Delta. To many people, such as the government agencies and its allies, these growth have brought income opportunities and growth to the local communities of the Niger Delta. In contrast to the inhabitants of the Niger Delta such economic growth is yet to translate to economic development, and an appreciable increase in the standard of living. Despite being the goose that lays the golden egg. This is coupled with certain fundamental issues such as continuous neglect by state, political marginalization and the failure of state interventionist efforts at ameliorating the suffering of the inhabitants of the region. The consequence of this is reinforcing the option of resistance and violence, as against peaceful engagement with the state. This is manifested in the increasing violence and lawlessness epitomized by the incidence of kidnapping of oil workers, seizure of MNOCs oil facilities, destruction of oil installations, as well as oil bunkering which is the focus of this study. By using narrative analysis, I found that the local communities sees oil bunkering as an integral part of their protest against the state and the multinational companies operating in the Niger Delta. This is an approach within political ecology, and narrative analysis offers a way of obtaining a rich understanding of the main ways that locals of the Niger Delta experience and perceives oil bunkering. As well as the state and MNOCs approach towards the locals, by means of their presentations of relevant narratives. By doing this I also aim at contributing trend of political ecology to the Niger Delta region. The local communities of the Niger Delta have been 11 embroiled in resistance against the federal government and the multinational oil companies (MNOCs). Multilayered issues such as lack of control, participation, revenue allocation, resources control and more, institute the main grievances against the oil companies and the government. Cognizant of these issues, the state and MNOCs have not applied a more holistic approach, for this reason the local communities in the Niger Delta lost confidence in both the state and MNOCs. Hence these led to the issues the Niger Delta is facing today. Such Oil bunkering activities done by the local militants of the Niger Delta is a classic example of the perceived struggle and resistance of the Niger Delta militants over control of the natural resources in their region. The local's militants are indigenes of the Niger Delta, they represent the resistance group and they are the main figure in oil bunkering. This study carried a more in-depth analysis of the local communities' narratives on oil bunkering than other stakeholder's narratives. However, this study also presented extensive position of other actors narratives linked to oil bunkering in the Niger Delta. My reason for doing this is that, as a researcher for this study I find the local communities of the Niger Delta to constitute the most challenging task to understand. The locals are more challenging to understand, because my main interest is to understand the local's community's perceptions. Therefore deeper focus on these, whilst to understand the context of other narratives are pertinent to identify the narrative landscape to compare and contrast. This study further argues that oil bunkering activities in the Niger Delta emerged due to grievances by the people of the Niger Delta, which is attributed to the failure of the state and the multinational oil companies (MNOCs) to comply with the demands of the local community of the Niger Delta. This thesis further shows that, the current oil bunkering activities in Niger Delta have become a mixture of genuine grievance and greed as well as opportunism. Details: As, Norway: Norwegian University of Life Sciences, 2015. 105p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed September 3, 2016 at: https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/handle/11250/293819 Year: 2015 Country: Nigeria URL: https://brage.bibsys.no/xmlui/handle/11250/293819 Shelf Number: 140143 Keywords: Offenses Against the EnvironmentOil IndustryOil TheftTheft of Natural Resources |
Author: Ralby, Ian M. Title: Downstream Oil Theft: Global Modalities, Trends, and Remedies Summary: At peak prices, tapping a Mexican pipeline of refined oil for only seven minutes could earn a cartel $90,000. In 2012 alone, hydrocarbons fraud cost the European Union €4 billion in lost revenues. In Nigeria, 30 percent of all hydrocarbons products are smuggled into neighboring states. An estimated 660,000 cars in Morocco and Tunisia run all year long on fuel smuggled from Algeria. In its first year, a fuel marking and vehicle tracking program in Uganda reduced the amount of adulterated fuel from 29 percent to as little as 1 percent. But at the same time, the regulators who test the state’s fuel marking program routinely steal 22 liters per truckload, amounting to 1.2 million liters per year at one border crossing alone. Theft, fraud, smuggling, laundering, corruption. Hydrocarbons crime, in all its forms, has become a significant threat not only to local and regional prosperity but also to global stability and security. Combating this pervasive criminal activity is made only more difficult by the reality that many of those in a position to curb hydrocarbons crime are the ones benefiting from it. This is the first major study of refined oil theft around the globe, and while Part I provides only a limited snapshot of the problem, it offers useful insight into the modalities of theft, the culprits responsible, the stakeholders who suffer, and the approaches that could change the illicit dynamics. Part I examines the contours of illicit hydrocarbons activity in ten case studies: Mexico, Nigeria, Ghana, Morocco, Uganda, Mozambique, Thailand, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the European Union (including the United Kingdom). The modalities of theft across these geographically and contextually disparate cases range from low-level tapping, siphoning, adulteration, and smuggling to extremely sophisticated maritime operations involving extensive networks of actors to brazenly corrupt dynamics in which states lose billions of dollars per year while their officials profit from those losses. Illicit activity is highest in states where oil is refined, but the most common determinant of oil theft is a significant price discrepancy between one state and its neighbor. Other factors in neighboring states— instability, currency imbalances, and lack of border controls—also impact the extent to which a state experiences downstream illicit activity. Areas where there are few fuel distribution centers are particularly ripe for organized criminal groups to fill the void. At the same time, security forces, regulatory authorities, company insiders, terminal workers, and officials at every level are all potential participants in illicit hydrocarbons schemes that rob governments of revenue and enrich the individuals involved. Some mitigation efforts—most notably fuel marking and vehicle tracking—have proved extremely useful in efforts to stem illicit activity and regain lost tax revenue. But others, including closing borders, have had little, if any, effect. This report is divided into three parts. The first focuses on the culprits, modalities, and amounts of downstream illicit hydrocarbons activity. It details each of the case studies and examines the forms of hydrocarbons crime, highlighting who benefits, who suffers, and, to the extent possible, how much is being lost by governments in the process. Part II draws on the details of the case studies to analyze trends in the global illicit market. Part III then focuses on the various stakeholders and their reasons and opportunities for mitigation, and provides concrete recommendations about what might be done. Fuel is vital to human life, and everyone wants a discount. Across the globe, people are willing to break the law in order to pursue that discount. The global scourge of illicit downstream hydrocarbons activity remains relatively invisible. This study, in shining a light on it, constitutes the first step toward effectively addressing this pervasive, yet unrecognized threat to global security, stability, and prosperity. Details: Washington, DC: Atlantic Council, Global Energy Center, 2017. 116p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 25, 2017 at: http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/images/publications/Downstream_Oil_Theft_web_0106.pdf Year: 2017 Country: International URL: http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/images/publications/Downstream_Oil_Theft_web_0106.pdf Shelf Number: 147797 Keywords: Natural ResourcesOil IndustryOil TheftOrganized CrimeTerrorist Financing |
Author: Balogun, Wasiu Abiodun Title: Crude oil theft, petrol-piracy and illegal trade in fuel:an enterprise-value chain perspective of energy-maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea Summary: he Gulf of Guinea (GoG) has developed into a global energy-maritime crime hotspot, with Nigeria being the epicentre of illegal oil-related maritime activities in the region. For several decades, scholars have sought to justify crude oil theft, petro-piracy and illegal fuel trade especially in the waters of Nigeria, in the context of greed-grievance. While that approach provides a basis for understanding the realities of illegal energy-maritime activities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, it does little to explain how the illicit activities have evolved into a global enterprise it is today, the dynamics of the business and the infrastructure that sustain the criminality. Against the backdrop of this limitation in existing theoretical underpinning of illegal energy-maritime activities in the GoG, this study adopts an enterprise-value chain model which, moving beyond the greed-grievance narrative, emphasises the primacy of both the enterprise and the marketplace (not players in the market) in explaining, and understanding the dynamics, complexities and persistence of crude oil theft, petro-piracy and illegal fuel trade in the GoG. The enterprise-value chain approach as adopted in the study, offers an advantage of interdisciplinary perspective, combining Smith's enterprise theory of crime and Porter's business management concept of value chain to understanding energy-maritime criminality in the GoG. The enterprise-value chain model sees the tripod of crude oil theft, petro-piracy and illegal trade in fuel as an organised crime; a well-structured economic activity whose business philosophy hinges on the provision of illegal goods and services. Such activities exist because the legitimate marketplace has limited capacity to meet the needs of potential customers. Within the enterprise-value chain framework, the study identifies, and analyses the dynamics of overlap, cooperation and conflict among the different players in the illegal energy-maritime industry as well as mutually beneficial relationships between formal and informal energy-maritime economies. Such an overlap is critical to understanding both the nature of the business and its sustaining value chain. The study concludes that current energy-maritime security architecture in the Gulf of Guinea does not capture the organised, enterprise nature of illicit offshore and onshore activities and its sustaining value chain, which highlights its inherent limitation viz-a-viz the region-s quest for energy-maritime security. There is therefore an urgent need to address this seeming gap as it determines significantly how the phenomenon is considered both for academic purposes and public policy. It is this obvious gap in both academic literature and policy on maritime security in the GoG that this study intends to fill. The study, in the context of its theoretical framework, develops a business approach to enhancing energy-maritime security in the GoG. Details: Lancaster, UK: Lancaster University, 2018. 313p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed February 19, 2019 at: http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/129813/ Year: 2018 Country: Guinea URL: http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/129813/ Shelf Number: 154670 Keywords: Crime HotspotsIllegal TradeMaritime CrimeMaritime SecurityOil TheftPiracy |
Author: Islam, Rubayat Title: Automatic Prevention Model for Vehicle Fuel Theft Summary: The discovery of automobile vehicles is the blessing to human being from engineering and science. The uses of automobile are increasing day-by-day as a transport vehicle. The majority of the transport vehicles are powered by traditional petroleum fuel such as gasoline, octane, diesel etc. The price of these transport fuels are also increasing worldwide and the high oil price becomes a factor of concern for civilization. From this point of view, advanced security system should be ensured for the fuel safety. The objective of this article is to describe the automatic prevention of fuel theft. An experimental study has been made by using ultrasonic sensor to measure the fuel flow rate by measuring the distance of fuel level with respect to time. When the fuel flow rate or fuel consumption rate becomes more than usual rate or fuel level falls drastically then the sensor is activated and sends a signal. After receiving the signal the GSM module sends a message to a specific number instantly by indicating that something is unusual so that one can immediately go into inspection. It has been found that it is a very low cost technology and it can also be implemented not only for vehicles but also in those sectors where liquid petroleum fuels are used such as power plant industries. Details: Dhaka, Bangladesh: Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, 2014. 6p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 27, 2019 at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271055840_Automatic_prevention_model_for_vehicle_fuel_theft Year: 2014 Country: International URL: https://www.academia.edu/10224813/Automatic_prevention_model_for_vehicle_fuel_theft Shelf Number: 156595 Keywords: Crime Prevention Fuel Theft Oil Theft |