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Nigeria Earned $32.6bn From Oil, Gas In 2018 -NEITI
Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), yesterday, disclosed that Nigeria earned a total of $32.63 billion from the oil and gas sector in 2018, a 55 per cent increase on the $20.99 billion recorded from the sector in 2017.
In a statement on the release of the 2018 oil and gas industry audit, NEITI also announced plans to release the 2019 audit report this year, effectively clearing the backlogs of the audits of the extractive sector and making the reports more timely and relevant.
Giving a breakdown of the $32.63 billion earned in 2018, NEITI stated that company-level financial flows into government coffers were $16.6 billion, while flows from sales of federation crude oil and gas accounted for $16.billion.
It said, “A five-year trend analysis of the earnings from the extractive sector showed a 54.6% drop from $54.6 billion in 2014 to $24.8 billion in 2015. The earnings further dropped by 31.2% to $17.05billion in 2016, but increased by 23% to $20.99 billion in 2017 and by 55% to $32.63 billion in 2018.
“Though the last two years bucked the trend of persisted decrease since 2014, the revenues from the sector in 2018 were still a staggering 40% below the $54.6 billion earned in 2014 when oil prices commenced a precipitous fall.
“The NEITI 2018 audit reconciled payments by seventy-one companies and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) that met the materiality threshold set for the exercise. A total of eight government entities were also covered by the audit.
“Out of the $32.63 billion earned from the sector in 2018, the sum of $19.92 billion was transferred directly into the Federation Account, while $5.21 billion and $4.04 billion were transferred into the Joint Venture (JV) Cash Call Account and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) designated accounts respectively.
“The NNPC designated accounts are the Naira and dollar accounts where domestic crude sales and the federation equity, royalty, petroleum profit tax and in-kind oil sales are paid into respectively before remittance to the Federation Account.
The report further disclosed that “$2.10billion was transferred into third parties project financing accounts and $1.37billion were recorded as subnational transfers.”
On production, NEITI stated that the total crude oil production in the country within the period under review was put at 701 million barrels, representing a slight increase of 1.5% when compared to 690 million barrels produced in 2017.
Giving a breakdown of crude oil production, NEITI disclosed that Joint Ventures (JVs) contributed highest production of 315 million barrels, followed by Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) which recorded 270.610 million barrels.
In addition, it noted that other funding arrangements like Sole Risk (SR), Marginal Fields (MF) and Service Contracts (SC) accounted for 92.2 million barrels, 22 million barrels, and 1.3 million barrels respectively.
NEITI said, “JV companies’ production increased by 3.12% in 2018 compared to 2017, while PSC operators’ production decreased by 10.90%. Similarly, SR operators’ production increased by 58.72% in 2018 compared to 2017. Production from the SC decreased by 10.27% while production from MF operators increased marginally by 1.18%.”
NEITI further disclosed that total crude oil lifted for both export and domestic sales in 2018 was 701 million barrels, representing a 1.9% increase when compared with total liftings of 688.3 million barrels in 2017.
In its analysis of the total lifting in 2018, NEITI stated that 255.6 million barrels or 36% was lifted by NNPC on behalf of the Federation, while companies lifted 445.5 million barrels or 64% of total liftings.
It said, “The liftings by NNPC indicates an increase of 5.95% when compared to 241 million barrels lifted in 2017. Further analysis showed that out of 255.6 million barrels lifted by NNPC in 2018, actual sales were 255.3 million barrels valued at $18.2 billion.
“Out of the 255.6 million barrels lifted on behalf of the Federation by NNPC, a total of 107.63million barrels was recorded as Domestic Crude Allocation (DCA) in 2018. Out of this figure, 94 million barrels or 87% of the DCA were utilized for Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP), while the balance of 13.58 million barrels or 13% was delivered to the refineries.
“Ordinarily, 160.2 million barrels (or 445, 000 barrels per day) should have been allocated for domestic consumption but only 107.63 million barrels or 67% of the customary allocation for domestic consumption was allocated in 2018.
“The sum of N2.295 trillion was realized as proceeds from sales of domestic crude oil allocation in 2018, out of which the following deductions were made: N722.3billion for under – recovery of imported petroleum products, N28.3 billion for crude and product losses and N138.95billion for pipeline repairs and maintenance cost.
“In 2018, total crude oil losses due to theft and sabotage was 53.28million barrels, an increase of 46.15% when compared to 16.824million barrels recorded in 2017”.
Similarly, the report put total products losses in 2018, due to pipeline breakages at 204,397.07 cubic meters.
“On gas production, the NEITI 2018 oil and gas report revealed that the total gas production for the year under review was 2,909,143.69mmscf, while total gas utilization was 2,909,143.55 mmscf.
“From the report, $307.20 million was realized from the sales of Federation gas of 633.55thousand metric tons in 2018. This represents increase of 7.10% when compared to 721.80thousand metric ton valued at $286, 85 million realized in 2017.
“The national gas reserve stood at 200.79tcf as at end of 2018. This is made up of 101.98 tcf of Associated Gas (AG) and 98.81 tcf of Non-Associated Gas (NAG). With the 2018 annual gas production quantity, the gas Reserves Life Index (RLI) was estimated at 92 years”, the report disclosed.”
On management of Joint Venture Cash Call, the report disclosed that aggregate cash call funding for 2018 amounted to $5.98billion.
In addition, the report noted that: “outstanding Cash Call Liabilities amounted to $3.66billion, comprising $3.41billion (93%) legacy liabilities and US$260million (7%) performance balance payable to JV operators”. Another feature of the oil and gas report is on social expenditure.
“Total social expenditure (mandatory and voluntary expenditures) was $902.67million. This consists of voluntary contribution of $59.27million (6.57%) while mandatory contribution stood at $843.39million (93.40%)”.
The mandatory contribution was made up of NDDC’s 3% levy of $683.38million and NCDMB’s 1% levy of $160.01million. Oil and gas industry contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2018 was put at 7.8%.
“The flows in the industry accounted for $32.64billion in absolute terms. This represents 7.8% of the total GDP Current Basic Price of ($ 418.12billion)”.
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminialayi Fubara, has dissolved the State Executive Council.
The governor announced the cabinet dissolution yesterday in a statement titled ‘Government Special Announcement’, signed by his new Chief Press Secretary, Onwuka Nzeshi.
Governor Fubara directed all Commissioners and Special Advisers to hand over to the Permanent Secretaries or the most Senior officers in their Ministries with immediate effect.
He thanked the outgoing members of the State Executive Council for their service and wished them the best in their future endeavours.
The three-paragraph special announcement read, “His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, GSSRS, Governor of Rivers State, has dissolved the State Executive Council.
“His Excellency, the Governor, has therefore directed all Commissioners and Special Advisers to hand over to the Permanent Secretaries or the most Senior officers in their Ministries with immediate effect.
“His Excellency further expresses his deepest appreciation to the outgoing members of the Executive Council wishing them the best in their future endeavours.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday told the National Assembly that it requires N873.78bn to conduct the 2027 general elections, even as it seeks N171bn to fund its operations in the 2026 fiscal year.
INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, made the disclosure while presenting the commission’s 2026 budget proposal and the projected cost for the 2027 general elections before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Electoral Matters in Abuja.
According to Amupitan, the N873.78bn election budget covers the full conduct of national polls in 2027.
An additional N171bn is needed to support INEC’s routine activities in 2026, including bye-elections and off-season elections, the commission stated.
The INEC boss said the proposed election budget does not include a fresh request from the National Youth Service Corps seeking increased allowances for corps members engaged as ad-hoc staff during elections.
He explained that, although the details of specific line items were not exhaustively presented, the almost N1tn election budget is structured across five major components.
“N379.75bn is for operational costs, N92.32bn for administrative costs, N209.21bn for technological costs, N154.91bn for election capital costs and N42.61bn for miscellaneous expenses,” Amupitan said.
The INEC chief noted that the budget was prepared “in line with Section 3(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, which mandates the Commission to prepare its election budget at least one year before the general election.”
On the 2026 fiscal year, Amupitan disclosed that the Ministry of Finance provided an envelope of N140bn, stressing, however, that “INEC is proposing a total expenditure of N171bn.”
The breakdown includes N109bn for personnel costs, N18.7bn for overheads, N42.63bn for election-related activities and N1.4bn for capital expenditure.
He argued that the envelope budgeting system is not suitable for the Commission’s operations, noting that INEC’s activities often require urgent and flexible funding.
Amupitan also identified the lack of a dedicated communications network as a major operational challenge, adding that if the commission develops its own network infrastructure, Nigerians would be in a better position to hold it accountable for any technical glitches.
Speaking at the session, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) said external agencies should not dictate the budgeting framework for INEC, given the unique and sensitive nature of its mandate.
He advocated that the envelope budgeting model should be set aside.
He urged the National Assembly to work with INEC’s financial proposal to avoid future instances of possible underfunding.
In the same vein, a member of the House of Representatives from Edo State, Billy Osawaru, called for INEC’s budget to be placed on first-line charge as provided in the Constitution, with funds released in full and on time to enable the Commission to plan early enough for the 2027 general election.
The Joint Committee approved a motion recommending the one-time release of the Commission’s annual budget.
The committee also said it would consider the NYSC’s request for about N32bn to increase allowances for corps members to N125,000 each when engaged for election duties.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Simon Along, assured that the National Assembly would work closely with the Commission to ensure it receives the necessary support for the successful conduct of the 2027 general elections.
Similarly, the Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Bayo Balogun, also pledged legislative support, warning INEC to be careful about promises it might be unable to keep.
He recalled that during the 2023 general election, INEC made strong assurances about uploading results to the INEC Result Viewing portal, creating the impression that results could be monitored in real time.
“iREV was not even in the Electoral Act; it was only in INEC regulations. So, be careful how you make promises,” Balogun warned.
The N873.78bn proposed by INEC for next year’s general election is a significant increase from the N313.4bn released to the Commission by the Federal Government for the conduct of the 2023 general election.
President Bola Tinubu yesterday expressed grief over the death of a former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities and one of Africa’s foremost literary scholars, Professor Emeritus Biodun Jeyifo.
Jeyifo passed away on Wednesday, drawing tributes from across Nigeria and the global academic community.
In a condolence message to the family, friends, and associates of the late scholar, Tinubu in a statement by his spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, described Jeyifo as a towering intellectual whose contributions to African literature, postcolonial studies, and cultural theory left an enduring legacy.
He noted that the late professor would be sorely missed for his incisive criticism and masterful interpretations of the works of Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka.
The President also recalled Jeyifo’s leadership of ASUU, praising the temperance, foresight, and wisdom he brought to the union over the years.
Tinubu said Jeyifo played a key role in shaping negotiation frameworks with the government aimed at improving working conditions for university staff and enhancing the learning environment in Nigerian universities.
According to the President, Professor Jeyifo’s longstanding advocacy for academic freedom and social justice will continue to inspire generations.
He added that the late scholar’s influence extended beyond academia into political and cultural journalism, where he served as a mentor to numerous scholars, writers, and activists.
Tinubu condoled with ASUU, the Nigerian Academy of Letters, the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, the University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, Oberlin University, Cornell University, and Harvard University—institutions where Jeyifo studied, taught, or made significant scholarly contributions.
“Nigeria and the global academic community have lost a towering figure and outstanding global citizen,” the President said.
“Professor Biodun Jeyifo was an intellectual giant who dedicated his entire life to knowledge production and the promotion of human dignity. I share a strong personal relationship with him. His contributions to literary and cultural advancement and to society at large will be missed.”
Jeyifo was widely regarded as one of Africa’s most influential literary critics and public intellectuals. Among several honours, he received the prestigious W.E.B. Du Bois Medal in 2019.