The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts on Tuesday issued a two- week ultimatum to three oil companies to remit to the Federation Accounts about $5,543,491.45 owed to the government.
Chorus Energy, Dubril Oil company Limited and Belema Oil admitted this before the subcommittee of the PAC investigating the non- remittance of about N9. 4 trillion in royalty to the federations accounts by 23 oil companies.
Belema Oil was founded by Tein Jack-Rich, who contested the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primaries with President Bola Tinubu in June 2022.
The Auditor General for the Federations, in its 2021 audit report submitted to the National Assembly, alleged that the companies failed to remit the amount to the government coffers, asking the National Assembly to recover the said amount.
At the commencement of the investigative hearing on Monday, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), represented by Mr. Balarabe Haruna had outlined the detail of the outstanding debts of the companies.
According to NUPRC, the debts are as follows: Chorus Energy owes a total of $814,680.06 and N181,954,238.43, comprising $396,907.76 for crude oil by price and $417,772.13 for crude oil by production.
Dubri Oil owes $3,025,193.71, which includes $646,605.55 for crude oil by production and $2,378,588.15 for gas flare.
Eroton Exploration & Production owes $78,486,333.27, made up of $45,094,125.31 for crude oil by production, $33,392,207.96 for gas flare, and $916,027.00 for concession rentals.
Belema Oil owes $1,703,617.68, including $977,793.54 for crude oil by price, $511,870.14 for gas flare, and $213,954.00 for concession rentals.
At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, the Chief Financial Officer of Chorus Energy, Oluseyi Simon, explained that the company’s debt arose after an increase in the crude oil price rate from 0.5% to $3.5.
He noted that the company has consistently paid its liabilities and that it had already paid $5.3 million in 2024 alone and assured the committee that the remaining balance would be cleared before the end of the month.
Acting Managing Director of Dubri Oil, who identified himself simply as Clement, also admitted the debt owed by the company, saying the company’s financial difficulties stemmed from a decline in production during the first quarter of 2024.
He emphasised that the company had been trying to mitigate the situation through workovers on its wells, but the efforts were unsuccessful.
He assured the committee that Dubri Oil planned to begin drilling new wells adfing that once production increased, would settle the outstanding debt.
He further revealed that Dubri Oil had been in discussions with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and had agreed on a payment schedule, with an expected resolution by the third quarter of 2025.
Belema Oil also confirmed its debt, citing operational challenges as the cause of the indebtedness.
The company’s Managing Director, Ahmad H. Sambk said Belema Oil had been unable to meet its production targets since August 2022 due to issues with the evacuation pipeline system, which had experienced significant leakages, leading to the loss of nearly 5 million barrels of crude oil.
He said these challenges had resulted in a complete shutdown of operations, preventing the company from fulfilling its financial obligations.
Chairman of the investigation sub-committee, Hon. Isaq Akinlade expressed disappointment over the failure of oil companies to meet their financial obligations to the government and stressed the urgency of retrieving the owed funds.
“Paying off these outstanding debts is not just a matter of financial responsibility, it is a critical step toward improving governance in Nigeria,” Akinlade said.
The committee unanimously gave the oil companies a two-week ultimatum to settle their debts, while warning that companies who failed to respond to invitations to the investigative hearings would face severe repercussions.
