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The NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, made the revelation in a statement issued on Sunday, March 4, 2018.

Ughamadu described the huge amount as "under-recovery."

The statement said the fund was due to the rapid increase of filling stations in communities with international land and coastal borders across the country.

According to the NNPC Group Managing Director,Maikanti Baru, the proliferation of filling stations has boosted cross-border smuggling of petrol to neighbouring countries, making it difficult to sanitise the fuel supply and distribution matrix in Nigeria.

The statement said Baru disclosed this when he led a management team of the NNPC on a visit to the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (Retd).

Baru revealed that a detailed study conducted by NNPC showed strong correlation between the presence of the border stations and the activities of fuel smuggling syndicates.

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He said the smugglers' activities caused the recent abnormal surge in the evacuation of petrol from less than 35 million litres per day to more than 60 million litres per day, which was in sharp contrast with established national consumption pattern.