Oil Firms Owe Nigeria Over $6 Billion, N66 Billion, Says Report
. EFCC To Hunt Erring Companies
By Sulaimon Salau
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has disclosed that outstanding collectible revenues due to the Federal Government in the oil and gas industry as of June this year have risen to over $6.071 billion and N66.4 billion, respectively.
These figures were among crucial information and data contained in NEITI’s 2022 and 2023 Independent Oil and Gas Industry Report, released today in Abuja.
A breakdown shows that the outstanding liabilities were $6.049 billion and N65.9 billion in unpaid royalties and gas flare penalties, due to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission as collectible revenues by August 31, 2024.
The report also provides a detailed analysis of the information and data regarding who owes what in outstanding revenues due to the government.
A further breakdown shows outstanding petroleum profit taxes, company income taxes, withholding taxes, and VAT due to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, amounting to $21.926 million and N492.8 million as of June 2024.
On fuel importation, the latest NEITI report disclosed that a total of 23.54 billion litres of PMS (premium motor spirit) were imported into the country in 2022, while 20.28 billion litres were imported in 2023.
This represents a reduction of 3.25 billion litres, or a 14% decline, following the removal of the subsidy. A detailed 10-year trend analysis (2014–2023) in the NEITI report shows that the highest annual PMS importation into the country, 23.54 billion litres, was recorded in 2022, while the lowest, 16.88 billion litres, was recorded in 2017.
The report also disclosed that a total of N15.87 trillion was claimed as under-recovery/price differentials between 2006 and 2023, with the highest amount, N4.714 trillion, recorded in 2022.
On crude production, fiscalized crude production in 2022 stood at 490.945 million barrels, compared to 556.130 million barrels produced in 2021, representing an 11% decline.
However, in 2023, NEITI’s independent report revealed total fiscalised production of 537.571 million barrels, a 46.626 million-barrel or 9.5% increase from total production recorded in 2022.
A 10-year trend (2014–2023) of fiscalised crude oil production in Nigeria shows the highest production volume of 798.542 million barrels was recorded in 2014, while the lowest, 490.945 million barrels, was recorded in 2022.
The NEITI report also provided detailed information and data on crude lifting. In 2022, total crude lifting was 482.074 million barrels compared to 551.006 million barrels lifted in 2021. In 2023, total crude lifting stood at 534.159 million barrels, representing an 11% increase of 58.08 million barrels.
On oil theft and crude losses, a total of 7.68 million barrels of crude were either stolen or lost in 2023, representing a significant drop of 79% (29.02 million barrels) compared to 36.69 million barrels either stolen or lost in 2022.
On overall revenue generation in the oil and gas industry, the report showed that material companies accounted for US$15.549 billion (96%) and non-material companies for US$695.604 million (4%) in revenues generated in 2022.
In 2023, material companies accounted for US$21.415 billion (95%), and non-material companies accounted for US$1.238 billion (5%).
The revenues came from 17 identified revenue streams, including proceeds from taxes, oil and gas sales, dividends from NLNG, royalty payments, signature bonuses, gas flare penalties, and concessions.
Speaking at the public presentation of the report today in Abuja, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume, reaffirmed “the unwavering commitment of the Federal Government of Nigeria to the principles of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) being implemented in the country’s oil and gas sector by NEITI. We consider the EITI not only as a global standard for promoting transparency in the management of revenues from natural resources but also as a tool to strengthen public trust, accountability, and economic growth,” the SGF stated.
Akume, who also chairs the NEITI board, acknowledged that information and data provided by NEITI’s independent reports have consistently proven invaluable to the government.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, explained that the preparation of the report followed a meticulous and transparent process in line with global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) standards.
“A rigorous, multi-stakeholder approach was adopted, involving extensive collaboration with government agencies, extractive companies, civil society, and indigenous consultants. We ensured that all data was collected, validated, and reconciled in an open and transparent manner,” the NEITI Executive Secretary stated.
The Chairman of the EFCC, Olanipekun Olukoyede said that any agency or extractive playing with full compliance and cooperation with NEITI Independent Audit process is making a huge mistake as the EFCC and NEITI in close partnership in the challenging war against especially in the oil, gas and mining industry.
The EFCC chairman publicly stated that where the work of NEITI stops, is where the work of EFCC begins.
The Chairman announced that from NEITI’s past reports, EFCC recently recovered and remitted to the Federal Government coffers over N1 billion.
He gave an assurance that the current reports released by NEITI will be taken over by the EFCC for thorough and further investigations of its findings and recommendations.
