Nigeria lost about 13.5 million barrels of crude oil valued at $3.3bn to theft and pipeline vandalism between 2023 and 2024, according to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
The agency described the losses as a major blow to public revenue, stressing that the amount could have funded a full year of the federal health budget or expanded energy access to millions of Nigerians.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr. Ogbonnaya Orji, disclosed this on Thursday at the 2025 Conference of the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC) in Lagos.
He said the figures reflect not only financial loss but also a deep-seated governance challenge in the nation’s extractive sector, calling for urgent reforms to ensure accountability and transparency.
“These losses are not just economic, they represent broken trust, institutional weaknesses, and missed opportunities for national progress,” Orji stated.
“This is precisely why transparency and accountability are not optional, they are existential. Without them, Nigeria cannot achieve sustainable growth in its energy industry.”
Orji, who spoke on the conference theme, “Nigeria’s Energy Future: Exploring Opportunities and Addressing Risks for Sustainable Growth,” stressed that the nation’s energy destiny will not be determined by the volume of its oil and gas reserves, but by the transparency and prudence with which its natural resources are managed.
He said the era of secrecy in resource governance was over and called for data openness across every level of the value chain.
He explained that transparency was not a bureaucratic exercise but an economic necessity that fosters investor confidence, attracts technology, and drives innovation.
“Data builds trust, and trust drives investment,” he said. “At NEITI, we have made it clear that transparency is the foundation for economic competitiveness and national development.”
Citing the agency’s latest industry audit, Orji revealed that Nigeria earned $23.04bn in 2021 and $23.05bn in 2022 from the oil and gas sector.
However, he said the reports also identified ₦1.5trn in outstanding remittances owed to the Federation Account by some oil companies and government agencies. Recovering these funds, he added, would significantly strengthen public finances and support critical investments in energy, education, and healthcare.
Highlighting the agency’s progress, Orji said NEITI has transformed from an audit institution into a broader governance reform agency, using data and policy reforms to enhance accountability in Nigeria’s extractive industries.
Over the past decade, NEITI has institutionalised regular audits of the oil, gas, and solid minerals sectors, tracking production, payments, and remediation.
He also noted that NEITI has developed the Nigeria Beneficial Ownership Register, which unmasks the real owners of more than 4,800 extractive assets and has become a key tool in combating corruption, illicit financial flows, and tax evasion.
The agency, he said, has further established the NEITI Data Centre, a national open-data platform providing real-time public access to vital industry information.
Orji explained that NEITI has strengthened collaboration with regulatory bodies, including the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), to deepen transparency in licensing, metering, and host community trust management.
These partnerships, he added, are designed to make openness and accountability the DNA of Nigeria’s extractive sector.
The NEITI boss also highlighted the agency’s introduction of a Just Energy Transition and Climate Accountability Framework, aimed at ensuring that Nigeria’s transition to cleaner energy sources is transparent, inclusive, and equitable.
He said as the country positions gas as its transition fuel and renewables as its long-term energy source, there is a growing need for verifiable data, open contracting, and measurable emissions reporting.
“Our energy future must rest on verifiable data, open contracts, measurable emissions, and accountable institutions,” Orji emphasised.
“NEITI envisions a sector where every dollar is traceable, every contract is public, every decision is transparent, and every Nigerian citizen can see how natural resources translate into national prosperity.”
He reaffirmed NEITI’s commitment to promoting transparency and ensuring that every barrel produced, every cubic foot of gas commercialised, and every naira earned contributes to national development in full public view.
According to him, the only sustainable path to securing Nigeria’s energy future lies in strengthening institutions, enforcing transparency standards, and embracing open data as a tool for reform.
“Transparency is the bridge between resource wealth and shared prosperity,” Orji said.
“It is not merely a policy, it is the economic lifeline that will determine whether Nigeria’s natural resources become a blessing or a burden.”
