Heirs Holdings Oil and Gas owned by billionaire Tony Elumelu and 45 other oil companies are under probe by the House of Representatives for failure to remit N9.4 trillion payments to the Federal Government.
In a statement released to the media on Sunday, Akin Rotimi, spokesperson of the House of Reps, said that the debt includes unpaid royalties, concession rentals, gas flare penalties, and liabilities arising from Production Sharing Contracts, Repayment Agreements, and Modified Carry Arrangements.
“A review of the Auditor-General’s Annual Report on the Consolidated Financial Statement for the year ending December 31, 2021, coupled with further investigations, showed that as of late 2024, multiple oil companies collectively owed approximately N9.4 trillion,” the statement noted.
List of Oil Companies indebted to FG
Apart from the Tony Elumelu-led Heirs Holdings Oil and Gas, other companies enlisted for probe include: Addax Petroleum Exploration Nigeria Limited, All Grace Energy, Amalgamated Oil Company Nigeria Limited, Amni International Petroleum Development Company Limited, Belemaoil Producing Limited, Bilton Energy Limited, Britannia-U, Waltersmith Petroman Limited, Chevron Nigeria Limited (OML 90, 95, 49), Chorus Energy, Conoil Plc, Continental Oil & Gas Company Limited, Dubri Oil Company Limited, Enageed Resources Limited, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, Energia Limited, and Eroton Exploration & Production Company Limited.
Also included are Esso E & P Limited (Usan, Erha), First E & P Limited, Frontier Oil Limited, General Hydrocarbons Limited, Green Energy International Limited, Nigeria Agip Exploration Limited (NAE), Panocean Oil Nigeria Limited (OML 147), Neconde Energy Limited, Newcross Exploration and Production Limited, and Newcross Petroleum (OML 152).
Other firms named are Network Exploration & Production Limited, Total E&P Nigeria (OML 100, 102, 52 & 99), Niger Delta Petroleum, Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) (OML 60, 61 & 63), Lekoil Oil and Gas Investments Limited, Midwestern Oil and Gas Limited, Millennium Oil and Gas Company Limited, Seplat Energy (OML 4, 38 & 41), and Oriental Energy Resources Limited.
Oando Oil Limited (OML 60, 61 & 62), Pillar Oil Limited, Platform Petroleum Limited, Shell Petroleum Development Company (OML 27), Universal Energy Limited/Sinpec, Shoreline Natural Resources, Star Deep Water Petroleum Limited, Sahara Field Production Limited, and Mobil Producing Nigeria Limited (OML 67 & 70) are also under investigation.
ENigeria News reports that the investigation also found that despite the mandates outlined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which require settlement within 30 days, the debts remained unpaid as of the last quarter of 2024.
However, in response to these findings, the House Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Bamidele Salam, has scheduled investigative hearings at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja.
“Ensuring that oil companies fulfill their statutory obligations is crucial to maintaining the integrity and accountability of our national resources.
“We seek a collaborative approach to resolving these discrepancies efficiently,” Salam noted.
Earlier this year, on January 28, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) revealed that it was working in collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to recover $6 billion and N66 billion owed to the federal government by various oil and gas companies.
