RELEASE OF NEITI FINAL AUDIT REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 001092 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE PASS TO USTR TREASURY FOR LKOHLER USDOC FOR 3317/ITA/OA/KBURRESS USDOC FOR 3130/USFC/OIO/ANESA/DHARRIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN ECON NI OIL SUBJECT: RELEASE OF NEITI FINAL AUDIT REPORT ¶1. SUMMARY. On April 11-12, the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) released it's final audit report on the Nigerian oil and gas industry. It found that the record keeping has a lot to be desired, with a wide disparity (over (US$224 million in 2002) between what companies paid and what the Central Bank recorded. President Obasanjo expressed displeasure that the audit showed huge losses in oil and foreign exchange, and asked the Hart Group, which conducted the audit, to attempt to reconcile the discrepancies and report back in three months. Some see this as an attempt to avoid the questions raised by the report. The NEITI stills needs supporting legislation to be institutionalized, but in the meantime the audit stands as the first comprehensive attempt to bring some transparency to Nigeria's oil revenues. End Summary. ¶2. The NEITI is the Nigerian component of the international EITI, a UK-led initiative for transparency and accountability in the extractive industries. Under NEITI the GON has held meetings throughout the country and adopted a Memorandum of Understanding prepared by the NEITI's NSWG which is made of government, business and civic and educational institutions to review these documents. The NEITI, under the leadership of the Minister for Solid Minerals, Obiageli Ezekwesili, has begun to have its first impact. After doing a number of road shows across the country, on April 11-12th in Abuja, NEITI presented the final Financial, Physical and Process Audit Reports of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry from 1999 to 2004. The most important was the Financial Audit in two volumes. Volume 1, The Report on Financial Flows, is a summary of financial flows from 1999-2004, Volume 2, Issues in Government Financial Systems, presents the findings on transparency and accountability. The data was collected using templates submitted by each entity using cash basis accounting, which is the prevalent GON practice. Highlights of the Financial Audit -------------- ¶3. The Financial Audit details the cash flows between the oil and gas industry and the GON, principally from sales of crude oil, petroleum profits tax (PPT),royalties, gas flare penalties, non-oil flows (taxes) and payments to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Total flows to the Government of Nigeria based upon all paying and receiving entities of the oil and gas sector (oil companies, CBN, and the GON) from 1999 to 2004 were: 1999 US $ 7.8 billion, 2000 US $15.6 billion, 2001 US $16.9 billion, 2002 US $11.4 billion, 2003 US $16.2 billion, 2004 US $26.3 billion. The flows steadily increased until 2002 when they took a substantial drop from US $16.9 billion in 2001 to US $11.4 billion in 2002. They returned to the 2001 levels in 2003 to US $16.1 billion. During the same years the GON invested in joint ventures: 1999 US $2.3 billion 2000 US $2.4 billion 2001 US $2.45 billion 2002 US $4.13 billion 2003 US $3.53 billion 2004 US $2.9 billion This accounted for the following net inflows: 1999 US $5.5 billion 2001 US $13.2 billion 2002 US $9.0 billion 2003 US $12.7 billion 2004 US $23.4 billion Contentious Areas -------------- ¶4. One of the more contentious areas of the financial audit is the financial flows to the GON vis-a-vis the CBN. Oil companies make most payments to the GON through the CBN, including petroleum profits taxes, royalties, gas flaring penalties, reserves additional bonus repayments, and signature bonuses on license award. The report shows for every year except 2000 and 2004, the amount paid by the oil companies exceeded what was recorded by the CBN. Based on the aggregated flows, the balances either under or over recorded by the CBN with respect to what was reported by the oil companies were: 1999 US $50 million was under recorded by CBN 2000 US $144 million was over recorded by CBN 2001 US $95 million was under recorded by CBN 2002 US $224 million; was under recorded by CBN 2003 US $362 million; was under recorded by CBN 2004 US $263 million was over recorded by CBN ¶5. Another area of concern is the differences between the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) and the CBN. The AGF is responsible for the management of the Federation Account, which comprises the financial flows of the oil and gas sector. The CBN receives these flows and is the banker for the AGF. Of the areas reported (PPT, royalties, gas flaring, equity and domestic crude) there were major differences in the equity and domestic crude oil accounts. Over the six year period the CBN reported US$803 million more in the equity crude account and Nigerian Naira 153.4 billion (US$ 1.2 billion in today's dollars) more in the domestic crude account than what was reported by the AGF. (Note: The AGF submission arrived late in the audit and was not used in any of the finding in the report). Auditor Recommendations -------------- ¶6. The Hart Group, which conducted the audit, recommended that the AGF be more actively involved in monitoring petroleum sector financial flows. The CBN should notify the AGF of the expected inflows and actual receipts. The AGF should interface with the CBN on all transactions. The CBN should make the details of all transactions widely available on a regular, perhaps daily basis. The CBN is installing a new electronic information platform that should allow these issues to be addressed. Physical Audit -------------- ¶7. The Physical Audit report maps and reconciles the hydrocarbon flows, including production, imports and inland consumption of crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas and liquefied gas. This audit tried to account for everything produced from all the oilfields, onshore and offshore and the gross and net oil balances. Most companies submitted gross and net balance reports, which supposedly take into account losses normally attributed to oil production. A long-standing problem in Nigeria is oil diversion, sometimes siphoned directly from pipelines, and sometimes diverted farther up the production and transport chain. The practices are commonly known as "bunkering". Estimating the amount diverted is a major challenge. Past reconciliations have not been successful in accounting for the losses. This physical audit again was unable to calculate the amount of diverted oil, which some believe to be over 10 million barrels during the audit period. ¶8. The auditors advocate a dialogue with the major government, commercial entities, and the National Stakeholders Working Group (NSWG),a component of the NEITI, on how to proceed. The entire hydrocarbon system needs to be monitored. The report recommends that the Department of Petroleum Resources, which is responsible for ensuring royalties taxes are paid based upon the amount of oil pumped by the oil companies through the system, begin active monitoring. Currently, they have no record of what has actually gone through the system, but rely on oil company reports. Audit Report Setback -------------- ¶9. On May 1, President Olusegun Obasanjo rejected the report at a meeting with the Federal Executive Council. The Auditors presented the reports for Council to accept on behalf of the GON. President Obasanjo stopped the presentation and demanded that the widely reported shortfall of US $250 million in 2002 between what was paid by the companies and what was recorded by the CBN be properly accounted for in the report. The Hart Group, who prepared the report, was tasked by the president to trace where the money went. President Obasanjo is the Minister of Petroleum and literally in charge of the GON petroleum resources, and has been for the years 1999-2004 covered by this report. If the oil and gas sector comes under closer scrutiny because of this report, the President faces questions. The future of NEITI -------------- ¶10. Comment: Currently the NEITI process is optional. Most of the funding has come from the UK. There is NEITI Bill before the legislature, which would make the audit mandatory and include an appropriation in the national budget. Together with the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, it is key to bringing more transparency to how Nigeria uses it oil revenues to support national development. The government hopes to pass them this year, but they could fall victim to election cycle distractions. A new government would probably still feel obligated to continue the process now begun. In the meantime, the report provides ammunition to those claiming that oil funds are misused. It also draws a picture of the many weaknesses in the current accounting, which should provide impetus for at least incremental improvements. End Comment. CAMPBELL