Get Guardian on GoogleNembe Exploration and Production Company Limited has clarified that funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over outstanding crude oil pipeline transportation fees were owed to its joint venture (JV) with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), insisting that the recoveries were not made from the company.
The clarification follows media reports linking Nembe, formerly Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company Limited, with EFCC recoveries involving oil companies over outstanding obligations relating to the Nembe Creek Trunkline (NCTL).
The company said it acted as the operator of the pipeline on behalf of its joint venture with NNPCL and provided crude oil transportation services to third-party operators, including Newcross Exploration and Production Limited, which subsequently accumulated outstanding transportation fees.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Friday, Nembe explained that it had repeatedly sought to recover the outstanding payments through direct demands, correspondence and engagements with pipeline users before the EFCC intervened.
It said the intervention enabled the recovery of funds it had previously pursued on behalf of the joint venture, stressing that the exercise was directed at recovering outstanding payments for services rendered rather than investigating or recovering money from Nembe.
“The EFCC’s intervention in respect of these transportation fees was therefore aimed at recovering money owed to the JV, not money from Nembe,” the company said.
Nembe maintained that it was the operator responsible for pursuing the outstanding payments and was not the defaulting party in the transactions.
The company attributed the accumulation of unpaid transportation fees to operational disruptions in the oil and gas industry, particularly crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism, insecurity and other challenges that intensified around the COVID-19 period.
According to the company, these disruptions affected crude transportation through the NCTL and complicated the reconciliation of volumes delivered by individual operators, making it increasingly difficult to establish and recover outstanding obligations.
It said the EFCC’s intervention brought its statutory investigative and recovery powers to bear after earlier efforts to secure full settlement through direct engagements failed.
Nembe added that changes in the leadership of the anti-graft agency over the years might have contributed to misunderstandings about the circumstances surrounding the recoveries and the respective responsibilities of the parties.
It also clarified that a separate issue involving stamp duty arising from the acquisition of Oil Mining Lease 29 (OML 29) and the NCTL remained under reconciliation with relevant statutory authorities.
The company said the stamp duty matter was distinct from the recovery of outstanding pipeline transportation fees, adding that discussions were ongoing to establish the applicable obligations and amounts.
Nembe, whose name changed from Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company Limited in the second quarter of 2025, welcomed the recovery of the outstanding transportation revenues, saying the funds were properly due to the joint venture.
It maintained that the recoveries should be understood as the settlement of payment obligations for pipeline services already provided, rather than evidence of wrongdoing or financial misconduct by the company.
