The House of Representatives has announced that seven oil companies have pledged to settle a cumulative debt of $37.4 million owed to the Federation Account before August 2025.
Akin Rotimi, the spokesperson for the House, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, highlighting the commitment as part of an ongoing investigation by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
“This commitment follows the Committee’s scrutiny of financial records from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), which flagged significant lapses in royalty payments and reconciliation processes across the sector,” Rotimi stated.
The pledged repayment is a fraction of the ₦9 trillion outstanding liability flagged by the Auditor General for the Federation in the 2021 report submitted to the National Assembly. The debts, some of which have accrued over four years, underscore persistent revenue leakages in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
$1.7 Billion Still Unpaid by 45 Companies
Beyond the seven firms that have agreed to settle their debts, the Committee’s probe has uncovered an additional $1.7 billion (₦2.5 trillion) in unpaid royalty payments by 45 oil and gas companies as of December 31, 2024.
The seven companies that acknowledged their outstanding liabilities and pledged to clear them before August 2025 are:
Belema Oil
Panocean Oil Nigeria Ltd
Newcross Exploration & Production Ltd
Dubri Oil Company Ltd
Chorus Energy
Amni International
Network Exploration
Nine Companies Contest $429.2 Million Debt Figures
Meanwhile, nine companies with a combined outstanding balance of $429.2 million have contested the figures provided by the NUPRC, requesting a reconciliation process to verify their actual liabilities. These companies include:
Aradel/Niger Delta
Chevron
STAR DEEP
Shore Line
Seplat Producing Unlimited
Esso Erha
Esso Usan
Eroton Exploration
Seplat Energy
The committee has mandated that the reconciliation process be concluded within two weeks, after which companies must settle their confirmed debts without delay.
28 Companies Fail to Honour House Invitation
In a more concerning development, 28 oil companies collectively owing $1,230,708,293.14 have failed to appear before the Committee or respond to public notices. The House has granted them a final grace period of one week to submit relevant documentation and appear before the PAC.
The affected companies include:
Addax Petroleum Exploration Nigeria Ltd
AITEO Group
All Grace Energy
Amalgamated Oil Company Nigeria Limited
Total E&P Nigeria (OML 100, 102, 52 & 99)
Bilton Energy Limited
Enageed Resources Limited
Waltersmith Petroman Limited
Conoil Plc
Continental Oil & Gas Company Ltd
Energia Limited
First E&P Ltd
Frontier Oil Limited
General Hydrocarbons Limited
Green Energy International Ltd
Nigeria Agip Exploration Ltd (NAE)
Neconde Energy Limited
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
Oando Oil Ltd (OML 60, 61 & 62)
Heirs Holding
Pillar Oil Limited
Platform Petroleum Limited
Universal Energy Limited / Sinpec
Sahara Field Production Limited
Oriental Energy Resources Limited
Failure to comply within the stipulated timeframe, the House warned, would attract firm legislative and regulatory sanctions to enforce accountability and compliance.
Two Companies Found Compliant
On a positive note, only two companies—Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Shell Nigeria Exploration & Production—were found to have fully met their royalty obligations.
The House of Representatives reaffirmed its commitment to enforcing financial discipline in the oil and gas sector to plug revenue leakages and ensure all outstanding debts to the Federation Account are settled.
