Oil companies’ indebtedness to the Federal Government in terms of royalties and taxes has risen to $6.175bn, according to an audit of the petroleum industry by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
The oil and gas industry report, presented on Friday in Abuja, which revealed a nine per cent drop in industry revenue in 2023, with $16.467bn recorded compared to $18.106bn in 2022, further disclosed a breakdown of $6.071bn and ₦66.4bn in unpaid royalties and gas flare penalties owed to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) as of August 31, 2024.
Additionally, there are outstanding petroleum profit taxes, company income taxes, withholding taxes, and VAT owed to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) amounting to $21.926 million and ₦492.8 million as of June 2024.
The NEITI report disclosed: “A total loss of 7.68 million barrels of crude oil in 2023, due to theft and measurement errors, a significant drop of 79 per cent from the 36.69 million barrels lost in 2022. Additionally, 153.44 million barrels of crude oil production were deferred in 2023, with companies like Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC (39.13 million barrels), TEPNG (6.07 million barrels), and TUPNI (3.5 million barrels) being the most affected.
“The government paid ₦3.01 trillion as a petrol subsidy in 2023 compared to ₦4.71 trillion paid in 2022, with a total of 23.54 billion liters of PMS (premium motor spirit) imported into the country in 2022, while 20.28 billion liters were imported in 2023. This represents a reduction of 3.25 billion liters, or a 14 percent decline, following the removal of the subsidy,” it reveals.
The report further noted: “A detailed 10-year trend analysis (2014-2023), which shows that the highest annual PMS importation into the country, 23.54 billion liters, was recorded in 2022, while the lowest, 16.88 billion liters, was recorded in 2017.
“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,” it added.
Speaking at the report unveiling, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, assured stakeholders that the government would continue to grant NEITI the freedom to fulfil its mandate to the country and the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, EITI.
Senator Akume said: “As the Chairman of the NEITI Board, I stand before you today to underscore the Federal Government’s respect for NEITI’s independence. While my role as Chairperson is a testament to the importance the government places on NEITI, it also signifies the commitment to ensure that NEITI operates independently, without interference, as mandated by the EITI standard.
“We must safeguard this independence with great care and diligence, ensuring that NEITI can operate free from undue influence,” he added.
On his part, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Olanipekun Olukayode, promised to use the latest report to ensure that the government recovers all outstanding revenues from the companies.
He also announced that from NEITI’s past reports, EFCC recently recovered and remitted over ₦1bn to the federal government coffers.
