Report on $22bn, N481.75bn unremitted funds for 2015, NEITI clarifies

The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has clarified that the sums of $22.06bn and N481.75bn listed as yet to be remitted to the Federation Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiary, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, and other companies in the oil and gas sector were as of 2015.

According to NEITI, between that time and now, some reconciliation has taken place and some remittances would have taken place, adding that its 2016 reports due for release in December this year would provide a proper update on the actual figures outstanding, if any.

Consultants to NEITI had circulated the ‘Summary of unremitted revenue, losses and irreconcilable differences from operations and transactions in the oil and gas sector’ at a national conference on remedial issues held in Abuja on Monday.

The document, however, did not specify the period the summary covered or if any reconciliation had taken place on the figures.

It simply stated that the NNPC alone had yet to remit total revenues of $19.04bn and N424.57bn.

Providing a breakdown of the unremitted revenues by the other firms, the report stated that oil and gas producing companies were still withholding $152.69m and N5.2bn; companies involved in offshore processing contracts, $498.6m; and the NPDC, $2.38bn and N51.95bn.

The NEITI report stated that the total losses to the federation arising from crude oil production, processing and transportation were $3.04bn and N60.99bn.

It noted that irreconcilable differences arising from the allocation, sale and remittance of proceeds from domestic crude allocated to the NNPC amounted to N317.48bn.

The total liability by companies involved in Offshore Processing Arrangements was put at $498.6m, as NEITI explained that the debt was due to under delivery of imported fuel by the participating companies.