Dark world of oil theft and fraud

Oil theft and fraud affects everybody — not just those in far-away nations — because it enables everything from terrorist attacks to human trafficking. The author outlines thieves’ techniques and what countries are doing to battle this multibillion-dollar scourge.

It starts with the donkeys. Unaccompanied once they reach a border, they carry their loads of oil from Algeria to Morocco and Tunisia and return with empty containers. They make their journey twice a day — every day — to power an estimated 660,000 cars on illegal fuel.¹

According to a report presented by the Nigeria Natural Resource Charter (NNRC), Nigeria lost about $4.4 billion in 2016 and $2.8 billion in 2017 to crude oil theft. This translates to a loss of about $8.9 million daily and a combined loss of $7.2 billion over the two-year period.²

In Mexico, fuel thieves drilled 2,274 illegal taps in the company’s pipelines during the first two months of 2018 — 38% more than during the same period in 2017 and 352% more than were discovered in the first two months of 2014.³