Horatius Egua, Media Aide to the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timpre Sylva, has tendered an apology to Nigerians and industry operators, over an erroneous media publication.

Egua had on Monday, released a statement credited to Sylva, titled; “Theft, Pipeline Vandalism Responsible For Volumes Of Crude Losses’.

He explained that the statement was a draft, which should not have been released to the media for publication, as it did not get clearance from the Minister.

Egua in the apology letter on Tuesday, said that the statement was not in anyway meant to denigrate the reputation of the head of any agency or government official, or to dispute the figures released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

“It was released in error.

“I apologise for any discomfort or inconveniences the statement may have caused by its release,” Egua stated.

The NUPRC had on Feb. 19, issued a statement that; “Approximately 40 per cent of the volumes credited to crude losses in the Nigerian petroleum industry are actually attributable to measurement inaccuracies, and not theft as often reported.