The Nigerian Navy seized 236 ships, tugboats, and barges from pirates who use the vessels to smuggle oil.  However, even with the Navy estimating that smuggling activities have been reduced by 80 percent, the problem of oil smuggling in the Niger Delta still exists.

Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, exporting 2.14 million barrels of crude per day, but the industry is prey to organised gangs of heavily-armed criminals who tap pipelines and siphon off tonnes of crude.

Smugglers sell an estimated 100,000 barrels per day to unscrupulous foreign refineries.

The multi-million dollar profits from the trade have fed an arms race among the pirate gangs and ethnic militias who ply the waterways of the Niger Delta.

For more information, please visit our Gas and Oil smuggling page.