A new report on Thursday said despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s attempt at ensuring transparency in the oil sector, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, still withholds billions in oil revenues from the government account.
The report by the Natural Resource Governance Institute, titled “NNPC still holds blank check” said that within the first six months of the Buhari administration, the NNPC withheld over $4.2 billion (about N824.7 billion) out of a total of $6.3 billion (N1.24 trillion) revenues realised from crude oil sales in the second half of 2015.
The withheld revenues represented about 66 per cent of the total revenue – $1.4 billion earnings from Nigeria’s regular crude oil exports for the period; $3.4 billion from domestic crude oil sales, and $1.5 billion from oil sold from the corporation’s upstream subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC oil fields.
The report said only $2.1 billion (about N413.7 billion) was transferred to the Federation Account.
The group said the unremitted revenues for the six months was about 14 per cent more than the amount withheld by the corporation under the Goodluck Jonathan administration in the first half of 2015, and about 12 per cent higher than the share withheld in 2013 and 2014.
The report said the figure of unremitted oil revenues in 2015 contrasted sharply with 2005 figures, which showed the NNPC remitted about 68 per cent of its total oil sale earnings to the Federation Account and kept only 32 per cent that year.
The report said while part of the withheld funds was used for servicing Nigeria’s share of the joint venture operating obligations, the NNPC did not fully explain what the other retained revenues from domestic crude and NPDC oil sales were used for.


In general, the report said despite the on-going reforms in the oil sector, the NNPC under the present administration was still retaining a major share of oil sale earnings and spending at will.
Some of the reforms by the Buhari government, the report noted, have cut the number of passive, well connected middlemen that pocketed billions of oil revenues, while the administration has cancelled costly, unbalanced NNPC swap contracts as well as seek more efficient replacements.
The report lamented that recent announcements on NNPC reforms and the latest drafts of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, failed to adequately address how NNPC and the government would share future oil revenues
“Until government establishes a clear, legally enforceable rule governing which revenues NNPC can keep and how they can be spent, oil sector corruption and waste could return to their prior devastating levels once the president (Buhari) leaves, or prices rise,” the report noted.
While encouraging government to push ahead with its reform plans for the oil sector, NRGI stressed the need for NNPC to adopt new financial controls and transparency measures for its subsidiaries, especially bordering on the several billion revenues retained each year from NPDC operations and its oil trading and marketing subsidiaries.
The Institute also called for the immediate replacement of the 445,000 barrels per day crude oil allocation for domestic refining with a fit-for-purpose mechanism for supplies to the country’s four refineries.
“The government should move to curb the corporation’s discretionary, unaccountable use of much-needed public funds. Until the government instates clear rules for NNPC financing, both the controversies and the underlying revenue leakages will persist,” the report said.
Describing the NPDC as one of the Nigerian petroleum sector’s “great black boxes”, the report said some of the oil from the company’s fields went to its strategic alliance partners, two of which were paid in oil for purportedly shouldering the company’s financial obligations.
From the production of an average of 30,000 barrels per day of Okono grade crude during the period, the report said NNPC retained all earnings ( about $12.3 billion over the past decade) from the offshore Oil Mining Lease (OML) 119 owned wholly by NPDC.

Source:

http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/201087-nnpc-withheld-n824-7-billion-oil-revenue-6-months-buharis-govt-report.html

make una come follow me see how corruption dey do relay race for our country. See as fraud dey do change of baton, from one gufment to another.

And they called jonathan names.

Another gate in this fraudulent govt.....NNPC-GATE

Shebi una see am...... And the dullard is busy junketing around why close to 1 trillion disappeared under his rotten nose in just 6 months.....When breeze blow, foul nyash must open!
Modified.... My birthday loading... April 9th.Young and getting it!

When I thought I have seen and heard it all.

Dis Buhari is a corrupt confused careless clueless and dullardic dolt...
How many corrupt cases under 1 year under his corrupt nose??

CBN scam
Forex shady deal
Budget scam
Estacode scam
Helipad scam
Minister scam

Now these......

Buhari ehn....... baba ole...

hmm

hmm.

Hypocrisy is when a Mr. Know-it-all reserves the office of Minister of Petroleum for himself in addition to being President when in reality, he knows absolutely zilch about the sector. Of course, they will pull the wool over his rheumy eyes and he will be none the wiser!

This is nonsense under PMB that cannot happen.

Donsammy77:
This is nonsense under PMB that cannot happen.

Cannot happen? Or already happening?

Coming from Premium Times, a relatively APC media outfit, it truly means we r in deeper trouble than we might ve imagined.

The minister of state petroleum will refute all this claims, watch out

Now just imagine this set of people! From intra party power struggle,padded budget & it present stalemate,CBN recruitment scandal,inconclusive/bloody elections, senseless killings without justice,intractable power failure,generalized hardship nationwide and now this while a non- chalant president is attending to a useless issue that have no impact on our survival.It's time Nigeria wake up to the reality before it.It's either we fight or be victims.

Aboki no wan share with anybody that's why he chose oil minister.
Thank God for GEJ with FOI, this Old man for still fool us as em take fool our fathers

Its a lie and hogwash! Buhari is a saint!
#voiceofthezombies

Dullarpo at it again..

Buhari, when you go get sense?

You are just too dull!

Dullardihno raised to power 6


Dull! Duller! Dullest!

Later they will come and deny it

These guys

Ok, natural resource governance institute. To God I have never heard that before. But it may be an appendage of PDP if not how much is the price of crude oil that the NNPC would withhold 66 percent of the total sale. The set of people dealing with opposition are not smart at all because if not how do they want the populace to take this fat lies. Nigeria deserves better opposition, not the kangaroo one being played by the PDP. The truth will be revealed soon.

STFUand4kMeHARD:
And they called jonathan names.

In circumstances like this, do you want to know the difference between this administration and the last one?

Under PMB: An investigation would be ordered and NNPC would be made to come out clean and explain the exact reason they aren't remitting funds. If their explanations don't hold water, they would be made to submit the funds.

Under GEJ: Upon hearing this story, GEJ in his unusually paranoid ways would quickly jump into defensive mode by becoming the spokesperson of NNPC. He would swiftly grant an interview where he would claim the report was generated by his political opponents to 'embarrass' his government; he would do this even before carrying out an investigation.

chai

may God save my country........ nnpc really needs to be dismantled......even Putin can't stop the high level of corruption brewing there

See the need to unbundle this organization? There is an entrenched culture of corruption and we know which party to thank for that.

Human demons Nigerians are playing with www.nairaland.com/3021916/human-demons-nigerians-playing-backing

Ok noted

Buhari needs to renew his body odour

Withheld but not missing