NNPC: We don’t owe international oil traders $6.8bn

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it does not owe international oil traders $6.8 billion. 

Reports had said the company is indebted to international oil traders to the tune of $6.8 billon and that it has not remitted revenues to the federation account since January.

Femi Soneye, NNPC’s spokesperson, in a statement on Sunday, said this is false.

“That NNPC Ltd. does not owe the sum of $6.8bn to any international trader(s). In the oil trading business, transactions are carried out on credit, and so it is normal to owe at one point or the other,” he said.

“But NNPC Ltd., through its subsidiary, NNPC Trading, has many open trade credit lines from several traders. The company is paying its obligations of related invoices on a first-in-first-out (FIFO) basis. 

“It is not correct to say that NNPC Ltd. has not remitted any money to the Federation Account since January. NNPC Ltd. and all its subsidiaries remit their taxes to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) regularly.

“This is in addition to payments of CIT to road contractors under the Road Investment Tax Credit Scheme.”

‘NNPC IS LARGEST CONTRIBUTOR TO TAX REVENUE’ 

Generally, Soneye said NNPC is the “largest contributor” to the tax revenue shared every month at the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).

The NNPC spokesperson said the company has no involvement at all in the quality/quantity fiscalisation of imported petroleum products because it is not a regulator.

“The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), which is the relevant regulatory agency in charge of such issues, is an independent body and does not report to the NNPC Ltd,” he said.

“That NNPC Ltd. is not averse to inquiries by the media into issues on and around its operations before dissemination to the public either through the print or electronic channels of communication as the company will, always, gladly take the opportunities to state the facts of the subject matter(s).”

NNPC said this is in line with the company’s commitment to the transparency, accountability, and performance excellence (TAPE) philosophy, which has been ingrained in the management since Mele Kyari took over in 2019.