This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

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