Oil and Gas Boost: Nigeria Sees $305 Billion Cash Inflow

According to information released yesterday, the Federal Government realized $305 billion in cash inflows from the oil and gas industry between 2014 and 2024.

This was revealed by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (NEITI) during an appearance before the Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) in Abuja by Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, the organization’s national coordinator and executive secretary.

Nigeria earned $54.5 in 2014, $24.79 in 2015, $17.05 in 2016, $20.9 in 2017, $32.62 in 2018, $34.21 in 2019, $20.43 in 2020, $23.04 in 2021, $35.7 in 2022, and $30.86 in 2023, according to Orji’s presentation on the country’s Oil, Gas, and Solid Minerals reports for 2021–2023.

Orji also revealed that from 1999 to 2023, the oil and gas industry brought in $831.14 for the nation.

According to him, the nation produced 800.49 barrels of crude oil in 2013, 798.60 barrels in 2014, 659.30 barrels in 2016, 690.50 barrels in 2017, 701.10 barrels in 2018, 735.20 barrels in 2019, 646.70 barrels in 2020, 656.20 barrels in 2021, 490.95 barrels in 2022, and 537.00 barrels in 2023.

Orji informed the lawmakers that the country’s gas production between 2019 and 2023 was 13,817,622 standard cubic feet (scf). However, he also stated that, as the ninth-largest gas producer in the world and the top producer in Africa, Nigeria needs to invest $200 billion in gas infrastructure in order to maximize its natural resources.

Nonetheless, the SPAC, which was chaired by Senator Aliyu Ahmed Wadada, denounced as unacceptable the scenario in which the solid minerals sector contributed less than 1% of the country’s GDP annually.

According to Orji, $200 billion is needed to install the necessary infrastructure in order to boost the nation’s gas resource production.

According to NEITI’s conclusions, Nigeria must invest at least $20 billion annually in gas infrastructure over a ten-year period, he stated.

All that Qatar Energy does is process gas using the necessary infrastructure.

In order to evacuate gas, Nigeria must invest in gas infrastructure. According to our analysis, this will require an initial investment of $20 billion per year for ten years in order to build the kind of gas infrastructure needed to supply gas to all of Africa and beyond.

Naturally, this will necessitate the installation of gas pipelines throughout the West African subregion and beyond, which will cost a significant amount of money.

Orji responded that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has started looking into the $8.5 billion in unremitted revenue into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CR) that was allegedly unremitted by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission in 2023.

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He did, however, emphasize that the solid minerals industry is not generating the nation’s desired income because its yearly profits account for less than 1% of GDP.

The Chairman and committee members, who were apparently upset by the disclosure, said that NEITI’s report on solid minerals did not accurately represent the state of the solid mineral industry.

They questioned why Nasarawa, Zamfara, Kebbi, Plateau, Bauchi, and other states were not included in the study, only states like Ogun, Osun, Kogi, Edo, Ebonyi, Rivers, Cross Rivers, and FCT.

Senator Wadada called it absurd and intolerable because solid minerals only contribute less than 1% of the nation’s GDP annually.

“This absolutely cannot go on; the sector needs to be completely restructured,” he stated.