2021 Oil, Gas Industry Report Accurate, NEITI Insists

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has insisted that it stands by the information contained in its 2021 oil and gas audit report.

This was stated by the agency in a release while reacting to an alarm raised by two civil societies, Publish What You Pay (PWYP), Nigeria and the Community Outreach for Development and Welfare Advocacy (CODWA), purporting that NEITI had denied the oil and gas audit report.

NEITI noted that the agency is always ready to prove the veracity of any of their reports, including its 2021 oil and gas audit report.

The statement reads: “The attention of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has been drawn to a story credited to the National Coordinator of the Publish What You Pay (PWYP), Nigeria. The authors insinuated that NEITI denied the contents of its recently released 2021 oil and gas industry report. We state as follows:

“NEITI finds this insinuation shocking, unfounded, incorrect, false and misleading. For avoidance of doubt, NEITI solidly stands by the crucial facts, information and data publicly disclosed in all its Industry Reports, including the 2021 oil and gas industry report that is already in the public domain.

“NEITI wishes to use this opportunity to emphasise that its reports are empirical, covered entities driven, with multi stakeholders’ participation and ownership.

“NEITI reinstates that it is always available to enlighten and offer clarifications on issues contained in any of its reports when called upon to do so.

That was what NEITI did when the Agency clarified its position on the process that characterised the 2020/2021 marginal oil fields bids commenced by the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). The NEITI 2020/2021 Report that covered the period promptly tracked, faulted and queried the bid process. The Report also noted that the DPR which commenced the process ceased to exist by August 2021 when the Petroleum Industry Act took effect. This followed the creation of two regulatory institutions in the sector including the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) which took over the responsibilities of the defunct DPR including the marginal field bid exercise in 2022/23.

“NEITI equally publicly clarified that under the NEITI independent processes it is the Agency’s industry report for the 2022-2023 that will comprehensively review and report on how that exercise was conducted and possibly concluded by the NUPRC.

“NEITI further stated that except and until the 2022/23 industry report is conducted and published, the agency is in no position to hold neither the NUPRC nor any other institution, individuals or group accountable.

“On the statement allegedly credited to the NNPC Ltd and attributed to the media that “NEITI dismissed many of the allegations in its 2021 report”, NEITI hereby states categorically, that this is totally false, strange and ridiculous. NEITI never did that. As an Agency, we stand by our reports.

“While still in doubt that the alleged statement actually emanated from the NNPC, NEITI will not only be engaging with the Corporation to verify the source and authenticity of the illogical statement, but reaffirms that we stand by our reports at all times.

“NEITI wishes to reassure the public that we will not be distracted from the series of meetings and constructive engagements already ongoing between the NEITI, NUPRC and NNPC Ltd to address remedial issues raised by the report, especially unremitted revenues payable to the federation.”