Oil revenues plunged by 55% to $24.8b in 2015 - NEITI report

The oil and gas revenues plunged from $54.5 billion in 2014 to $24.8bn in 2015 representing 54.6 per cent decline in oil revenue earning.

The country’s oil production also fell from 798 million barrels in 2014 to 776m barrels, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has said.

NEITI’s 2015 Oil and Gas Industry Audit Report released at the weekend showed that the total outstanding revenue from the sector as at 2015 was $3.7bn and N80bn, while losses incurred stood at $2.2bn and N60bn, and revenues /not reconciled amounted to N317bn.

The agency also tasked government on oil metering and recovery of $3.7bn outstanding revenues, while it urged the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to give full account and status of $16.8bn dividends from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG).

“Beyond providing a snapshot of what transpired in 2015, this report reveals money to be recovered, leakages to be blocked, and urgent reforms to be undertaken,” said Waziri Adio, the Executive Secretary of NEITI, at the release of the report.

He added: “The most critical take-away is the need to expedite, expand and sustain reforms in this still critical sector of national life.”

The report shows that Nigeria suffered a 54.6 per cent decline in oil revenues with only a slight 2.7 per cent fall in oil production. “This was due to drastic reduction in the unit price of crude oil in the global market,” stated the report.

Recall that the yearly average price of crude oil per barrel tumbled from $101.91 in 2014 to $52.16 in 2015. Oil and gas revenues have been declining since 2011 when total revenues peaked at $68.4bn.

The statement from NEITI’s spokesman, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji said the 2016 audits will commence early this year while the procurement process for the 2017 audits has commenced.