News
Oil majors ripping Nigeria off, NEITI cries out
Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has cried out over to lopped sided sharing arrangement between the NNPC and oil major saying there is the urgent need to review the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Agreement between Nigeria and oil companies. NEITI says that the urgency to review the obsolete legislation without further delay is in view of the revenue losses to the federation by the use of the old agreement in computation of revenues to be shared between the government and oil companies. NEITI recalls that the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act of 1993 provides for: “ a review of the terms when prices of oil crosses $20 in real term; and a review of the terms 15 years after operation of the agreement and five years subsequently”.
NEITI however observed with concern that Nigeria is yet to adhere to this important provision even now that the price of oil is revolving around $70 per barrel. In an Occasional Paper released by NEITI which reviewed three years of NNPC’s financial and operations reports, NEITI noted that crude oil production under the Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) has since overtaken production under the Joint Venture arrangements. According to NEITI a careful look shows that Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) accounted for 44.8% of total oil production while the Joint Ventures (JVs) contributed 31.35%.
Analysis of this development by NEITI shows that JV Companies accounted for over 97% of Production in 1998 while PSCs contributed only 0..50%. This trend continued until 2012 when PSCs accounted for 37.58% while JVs contributed 36.91%. From the publication in 2013, PSCs contributed 39..22% while JVs contributed 36.65%, 2014: PSCs; 40.10% and JVs 32.10%; 2015: PSCs 41.45% and JVs 31.99% while in 2017 the contributions stood at PSCs 44.32% and 30.85% respectively. The NEITI Occasional Paper further stated “other companies, comprising Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Alternative Financing (AF), and Independent/ Marginal Fields contributed 2.39% to total production in 1998 and by 2017 this had risen to 24.83%. This figure clearly shows the changing structure of oil production in Nigeria, where PSCs, which contributed a mere 0.5% to total production 20 years ago, have dramatically overtaken JVs (which contributed 97% to total production 20 years ago)”.
Between 2015 and 2017 covered by NEITI’s Occasional Paper review of NNPC Report, Nigeria produced 2.126 billion barrels of crude oil and condensate. A Further review of the NNPC Report shows that: “Production was highest in 2015 with 775.6million barrels produced. Production was lowest in 2016 with 661.1million barrels produced, while production in 2017 was 690 million barrels. 2016 was a difficult year for oil production because production was shut in a number of oil terminals”. NEITI’s major concern is that now that the PSCs account for about 50% of total oil production and major source of revenues, the delay or failure to review and renew the agreement means that payment of royalty on oil production under PSCs would not be made while computation of taxes would be based on the old rates.
On lifting of crude oil, the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report disclosed “international oil companies (IOCs) lifted more crude oil than the government. Total lifting of crude oil and condensates was 2.135 billion barrels. Of this sum, IOCs and Independents lifted a total of 1.367 billion barrels, while government’s lifting by NNPC was 721.16 million barrels. This means that the operators lifted 64.01% of total crude lifting’s, while government through NNPC lifted 33..76%. When expressed in monetary terms, total government lifting of oil amounted to $35.893 billion while the figure for IOCs and Independents was $68..591 billion”
The NNPC Report further disclosed that refineries received 15.15% of total domestic crude lifting out of which 41.32% was utilized under the Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP) program of NNPC. On Refineries and domestic crude utilization, the report disclosed that for the 3yrs under review, Nigeria’s refineries recorded an average capacity utilization of 12.26%. A further breakdown shows that Kaduna refinery had the lowest capacity utilization of 9% while Warri and Port Harcourt recorded 9.73% and 15.4% respectively. One striking feature of the NNPC financial operations report is the disclosure that the Corporation lost the sum of N547billion in its operation between 2015 and 2017. Out of this amount, the NNPC Corporate Headquarters recorded the highest revenue loss to the tune of N336.268billion. On the contrary, the Report revealed that the Nigeria Gas company made a huge profit of N141.324billion. While NEITI applauds the Monthly voluntary disclosures by the NNPC, it is important to note that NEITI through its auditors under the EITI framework has not independently verified the information and data from the NNPC reports.
“NEITI has not, except for the year 2015, independently validated the data from NNPC. This will be done in ongoing and future reconciliation reports. What has been done here is a preliminary analysis of the data that NNPC has made available for the three-year period. The figures examined here do not represent the sum total of all revenues from the sector, as other payment streams like royalties and taxes from JVs, signature bonuses, transportation rental fees, NESS fees, penalties and others are not covered by the NNPC financial and operational reports” the NEITI Report concluded. NEITI however commended the NNPC for the reconciliation of the crude swap under-delivery transaction executed during the crude- for- product- swap. NEITI also urged the Corporation to sustain the new spirit of openness while encouraging the citizens to use the information and data from the NNPC’s disclosures to promote public debate required in implementing the on-going reforms in the extractive sector.
The NEITI Occasional Paper series which reviewed the 3 years of NNPC operations and financial reports is the third in the series.. In the pursuit of EITI global Open Data Policy, NEITI has data set for the three years (2015 -2017) in excel format readily available on its website in support of public interest, analysis and debate. NEITI has also began a process of building a model to calculate the extent of losses as a result of failure to review the PSCs agreement as at and when due.
A new technology transfer agreement between the Nigeria–China Strategic Partnership (NCSP) and the Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer (PICTT) is expected to open more job opportunities, improve local skills, and expand access to advanced technology for ordinary Nigerians.
In a press statement reaching Vanguard on Friday, the MoU aims to strengthen industrial development, support local content, and create clearer pathways for Nigerians to benefit from China’s growing investments in the country.
PICTT Chairman, Dr Dahiru Mohammed, said the partnership will immediately begin coordinated programmes that support local participation in infrastructure and industrial projects.
Special Adviser to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr John Uwajumogu, said the deal will help attract high value investments that can stimulate job creation and strengthen Nigeria’s economy.
NCSP Head of International Relations, Ms Judy Melifonwu, highlighted that Nigerians stand to gain from expanded STEM scholarships, technical training, access to modern technology, and collaboration across key sectors including steel, agriculture, automobile parks, and cultural industries.
The NCSP Director-General reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to measurable results, noting that the partnership with PICTT will prioritise initiatives that deliver direct national impact.
The MoU signals a new phase of Nigeria–China cooperation focused on practical delivery, local content, and opportunities that improve everyday livelihoods.
EU regulators launched an antitrust investigation into Meta Platforms on Thursday over its rollout of artificial intelligence features in its WhatsApp messenger that would block rivals, hardening Europe’s already tough stance on Big Tech. The move, reported earlier by Reuters and the Financial Times, is the latest action by European Union regulators against large technology firms such as Amazon and Alphabet’s Google as the bloc seeks to balance support for the sector with efforts to curb its expanding influence.
Europe’s tough stance – a marked contrast to more lenient U.S. regulation – has sparked an industry pushback, particularly by U.S. tech titans, and led to criticism from the administration of U. S. President Donald Trump. The European Commission said that the investigation will look into Meta’s new policy that would limit other AI providers’ access to WhatsApp, a potential boost for its own Meta AI system integrated into the platform earlier this year.
EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said the move was to prevent dominant firms from “abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors”. She added interim measures could be imposed to block Meta’s new WhatsApp AI policy rollout. “AI markets are booming in Europe and beyond,” she said. This is why we are investigating if Meta’s new policy might be illegal under competition rules, and whether we should act quickly to prevent any possible irreparable harm to competition in the AI space.”
A WhatsApp spokesperson called the claims “baseless”, adding that the emergence of chatbots on its platforms had put a “strain on our systems that they were not designed to support”, a reference to AI systems from other providers. “Still, the AI space is highly competitive and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems.” The EU was the first in the world to establish a comprehensive legal framework for AI, setting out guardrails for AI systems and rules for certain high-risk applications in the AI Act.
Meta AI, a chatbot and virtual assistant, has been built into WhatsApp’s interface across European markets since March. The Commission said a new policy fully applicable from January 15, 2026, may block competing AI providers from reaching customers via the platform. Ribera said the probe came on the back of complaints from small AI developers about the WhatsApp policy. The Interaction Company of California, which has developed AI assistant Poke.com, has taken its grievance to the EU competition enforcer. Spanish AI startup Luzia has also talked to the Commission, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Marvin von Hagen, co-founder and CEO of The Interaction Company of California, said if Meta was allowed to roll out its new policy, “millions of European consumers will be deprived of the possibility of enjoying new and innovative AI assistants”. Meta also risks a fine of as much as 10% of its global annual turnover if found guilty of breaching EU antitrust rules.
Italy’s antitrust watchdog opened a parallel investigation in July into allegations that Meta leveraged its market power by integrating an AI tool into WhatsApp, expanding the probe in November to examine whether Meta further abused its dominance by blocking rival AI chatbots from the messaging platform. The antitrust probe is a more traditional means of investigation than the EU’s Digital Markets Act, the bloc’s landmark legislation currently used to scrutinize Amazon’s and Microsoft’s cloud services for potential curbs. Reuters
The spouses and children of billionaires inherited more wealth in 2025 than in any previous year since reporting began in 2015, according to UBS’s Billionaire Ambitions Report published on Thursday. In the 12 months to April, 91 people became billionaires through inheritance, collectively receiving $298 billion, up more than a third from 2024, the Swiss bank said. “These heirs are proof of a multi-year wealth transfer that’s intensifying,” UBS executive Benjamin Cavalli said.
The report is based on a survey of some of UBS’s super-rich clients and a database that tracks the wealth of billionaires across 47 markets in all world regions. At least $5.9 trillion will be inherited by billionaire children over the next 15 years, the bank calculates.
Most of this inheritance growth is set to take place in the United States, with India, France, Germany and Switzerland next on the list, UBS estimated. However, billionaires are highly mobile, especially younger ones, which could change that picture, it added. The search for a better quality of life, geopolitical concerns and tax considerations are driving decisions to relocate, according to the report.
In Switzerland, where $206 billion will be inherited over the next 15 years according to the bank, voters on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected 50 per cent tax on inherited fortunes of $62 million or more, after critics said it could trigger an exodus of wealthy people.
Switzerland, the UAE, the U.S. and Singapore are among billionaires’ preferred destinations, UBS’s Cavalli said. “In Switzerland, Sunday’s vote may have helped to increase the country’s appeal again,” he said. Reuters
-
News4 days agoNigeria to officially tag Kidnapping as Act of Terrorism as bill passes 2nd reading in Senate
-
News1 week agoFG launches fresh offensive against Trans-border crimes, irregular migration, ECOWAS biometric identity Card
-
News4 days agoFG’s plan to tax digital currencies may push traders to into underground financing—stakeholders
-
News4 days agoNigeria champions African-Arab trade to boost agribusiness, industrial growth
-
Economy4 days agoMAN cries out some operators at FTZs abusing system to detriment of local manufacturers
-
Finance1 week agoAfreximbank successfully closed its second Samurai Bond transactions, raising JPY 81.8bn or $527m
-
Uncategorized2 days agoChevron to join Nigeria oil licence auction, plans rig deployment in 2026
-
News4 days agoEU to support Nigeria’s war against insecurity