Oil, gas companies owes Nigerian Govt $6bn, N66bn in unpaid revenues – NEITI report

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) says outstanding collectible revenues due to the federal government in the oil and gas industry have risen to $6.071 billion and N66.4 billion as of June 2024, respectively.

NEITI made this known on Thursday during the public unveiling of its 2022 and 2023 Independent Oil and Gas Industry Reports in Abuja.

According to NEITI, outstanding debts include $6.049 billion and N65.9 billion in unpaid royalties and gas flare penalties owed to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) as of August 31.

Also, outstanding petroleum profit taxes, company income taxes, withholding taxes, and value-added tax (VAT) amounting to $21.9 million and N492.8 million were due to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as of June 2024.

Ola Olukoyede, chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), unveiled the report alongside George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and chairperson of NSWG, NEITI, and other dignitaries.

It also provided a detailed analysis of the information and data regarding who owes what in outstanding revenues due to the government.

A further breakdown showed outstanding petroleum profit taxes, company income taxes, withholding taxes, and Value Added Tax (VAT), due to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), amounting to $21.926 million and N492.8 million as of June 2024.

The latest NEITI report on fuel importation disclosed that 23.54 billion litres of petrol were imported into the country in 2022 and 20.28 billion litres in 2023.

This represents a reduction of 3.25 billion litres, or a 14 percent decline.

The NEITI report included a detailed 10-year trend analysis (2014 – 2023) showing that the highest annual petrol importation into the country, 23.54 billion litres, was recorded in 2022, while the lowest, 16.88 billion litres, was recorded in 2017.

The NEITI report also disclosed that a total of N15.87 trillion was claimed as under-recovery and price differentials between 2006 and 2023, with the highest amount, N4.714 trillion, recorded in 2022.

On crude production, fiscalised crude production in 2022 stood at 490.945 million barrels, compared to 556.130 million barrels produced in 2021, representing an 11 percent decline.

However, in 2023, NEITI’s independent report revealed total fiscalised production of 537.571 million barrels, and 46.626 million barrels or a 9.5 percent increase from total production recorded in 2022.

A 10-year trend (2014 – 2023) of fiscalised crude oil production in Nigeria showed 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 further provided detailed information and data on crude lifting, disclosing that 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 percent increase of 58.08 million barrels,” the report stated.

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 percent (29.02 million barrels) compared to 36.69 million barrels either stolen or lost in 2022.

The NEITI report reviewed all aspects of the regulatory framework for the oil and gas industry.

This included the legal framework, fiscal regime, roles of government entities and reforms, as well as laws, Petroleum Industry Act and regulations relating to addressing corruption risks in the oil and gas sector.