Nigeria Amassed $831.14 Billion from Oil & Gas Over 24 Years – NEITI

In a striking revelation, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has disclosed that the nation accrued a staggering $831.14 billion in revenue from its oil and gas sector between 1999 and 2023. This was made known by NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Ogbonnaya Orji, during his presentation before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts on Monday.
Orji further emphasized that Nigeria requires an annual investment of approximately $20 billion over the next decade to fortify its gas infrastructure, a critical necessity for sustaining the country’s energy sector.
The Senate Committee, under the stewardship of Senator Ahmed Wadada, was briefed on NEITI’s exhaustive 16-cycle reports, which encapsulated findings from 78 companies operating within the extractive industries. The reports outlined extensive revenue flows but also underscored significant financial hemorrhages resulting from crude oil theft.
According to Orji, Nigeria has lost an estimated 701.48 million barrels of crude oil since 2009, when NEITI commenced its tracking of illicit losses in the sector. This unrelenting wave of oil pilfering continues to erode the nation’s earnings, exacerbating economic vulnerabilities.
Diving into the solid minerals sector, Orji disclosed that it generated ₦1.56 trillion in revenue between 2021 and 2023. However, despite government-driven initiatives, its contribution to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) remains dismally below 1%.
NEITI identified Ogun, Kogi, Cross River, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as the leading hubs for solid mineral activities in 2021. Nonetheless, the agency advocated for a comprehensive overhaul of the Solid Minerals Act to streamline operations, drawing parallels with the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which was designed to mitigate challenges within the oil and gas sector.
Astonishingly, Orji revealed that $6.1 billion in unpaid royalties remains uncollected by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). This lapse underscores a systemic failure in revenue collection, allowing major industry players to operate with financial impunity.
Adding to these concerns, Orji lamented the disorganized execution of the Petroleum Industry Act. He noted that despite the previous administration of President Muhammadu Buhari forming a committee to draft a structured implementation framework, the committee’s work remained unfinished before the new government assumed office in May 2023.
“The PIA is being implemented without a coherent roadmap or strategic oversight,” Orji warned. “We strongly recommend either the establishment of a fresh committee or the revival of the previous team’s work to ensure proper execution.”
In response to these revelations, the Senate Committee on Public Accounts has announced its intention to convene a public hearing focused on revenue generation by key agencies such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the FIRS, and the NUPRC.
Senator Aliyu Wadada affirmed that these agencies would be summoned to provide clarity on their revenue operations. “We will extend invitations to all relevant stakeholders and initiate a public inquiry into the mechanisms governing their financial transactions,” he declared.
As Nigeria grapples with economic fluctuations and fiscal leakages, the coming weeks could prove pivotal in shaping policies that enhance transparency and accountability in the extractive industries.