The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) on Thursday said oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria owed the Federal Government over $6.071 billion and N66.4 billion in taxes and royalties.

These figures were disclosed in the 2022-2023 NEITI Independent Oil and Gas Industry Report, released today in Abuja.

According to the report, the majority of these outstanding liabilities—$6.049 billion and N65.9 billion—are unpaid royalties and gas flare penalties due to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

In addition to royalties and penalties, the report noted unpaid petroleum profit taxes, company income taxes, withholding taxes, and VAT, totalling $21.926 million and N492.8 million owed to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as of June 2024.

NEITI also disclosed that Nigeria imported 23.54 billion litres of premium motor spirit (PMS) in 2022, a figure that declined to 20.28 billion litres in 2023 following the removal of fuel subsidies.

The report also noted that the highest yearly PMS import volume of 23.54 billion litres was recorded in 2022, while the lowest, 16.88 billion litres, occurred in 2017.

In terms of crude oil production, the report revealed that Nigeria’s fiscalized crude production dropped by 11 percent in 2022 to 490.945 million barrels from 556.130 million barrels in 2021.

However, in 2023, crude production rebounded to 537.571 million barrels, a 9.5 percent increase from the previous year.

On crude lifting, NEITI reported 482.074 million barrels lifted in 2022, a decline from 551.006 million barrels in 2021.

By 2023, crude lifting rose to 534.159 million barrels, an increase of 58.08 million barrels.

The report noted that oil theft and crude losses experienced a significant reduction in 2023, indicating that a total of 7.68 million barrels were either stolen or lost, marking a 79 percent drop from the 36.69 million barrels recorded in 2022.