Nigeria’s Navy has destroyed an illegal crude oil storage facility in the Bonny area of Rivers State, uncovering four concealed dugout pits containing 17,500 litres of suspected stolen crude oil hidden under thick vegetation in the creeks. The operation, carried out under Operation Delta Sentinel, was disclosed by Director of Naval Information Capt. Abiodun Folorunsho on March 13.
- Personnel from Forward Operating Base (FOB) Bonny located the facility during routine surveillance, using maritime surveillance technology to detect the concealed pits in the Opotumbi general area.
- The 17,500 litres of recovered product were destroyed on site in accordance with operational guidelines.
- Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Idi Abbas had directed an intensification of anti-theft operations across the maritime domain, of which this action forms part.
- The operation follows a similar Navy strike last week in the Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni area of Rivers State, where an illegal refinery was dismantled and a tampered wellhead belonging to a named company was found connected to an improvised pipeline used to siphon crude into dugout pits.
Oil theft in Nigeria’s Niger Delta is a structural drain on government revenue and production targets. The Nigerian Navy reported in 2025 that it destroyed over 800 illegal refineries and recovered 171,000 barrels of stolen crude over a two-year period, alongside the arrest of 76 vessels and at least 242 suspects. Operation Delta Sentinel is the Navy’s standing maritime security initiative specifically targeting crude theft and illegal bunkering across Nigeria’s creeks and offshore waters.
Bigger Picture: Nigeria produced approximately 1.5 million barrels per day in early 2026, still well below its OPEC quota of 1.8 million bpd. A significant portion of the gap is attributable to theft and sabotage in Rivers, Bayelsa, and Delta states, which collectively account for the bulk of the country’s output. At a crude price of $75 per barrel, each 17,500-litre seizure represents roughly $8,300 in recovered product, a small number operationally but part of a sustained pressure campaign that the Navy and NNPCL argue is materially reducing pipeline interference incidents year on year.
Source: Nairametrics
