An inter-agency investigation has uncovered widespread crude oil theft, hidden wells, and systemic corruption across Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, implicating some operators, security personnel, and government officials.
The findings are contained in a 187-page report by the Inter-Agency Technical Committee (IATC), set up in 2025 to verify oil and gas well data and investigate disputes. The report links the ongoing revenue shortfalls and failure to meet OPEC production targets to large-scale economic sabotage.
Investigators found major discrepancies between officially reported and actual numbers of oil wells, alongside unaccounted production and illegal crude evacuation through untracked vessels, trucks, and covert creek operations. Many flow stations lack metering systems, enabling manipulation of production figures and revenue losses.
The report also highlights severe infrastructure decay, with some oil blocks producing at just 35% capacity, while others are shut down due to theft. Gas production is largely untracked, with significant volumes either flared or used without proper documentation.
Sterling Exploration and Energy Production Company (SEEPCO) was specifically indicted for alleged fraud, operational secrecy, and obstruction of investigators. The committee described its operations as marked by “systemic fraud” and accused it of concealing critical data.
The probe further exposed security lapses, including illegal offshore crude loading that allegedly occurs with the complicity of security agencies. In one case, arrested suspects reportedly returned to the same site weeks later after intervention from higher authorities. The committee questioned persistent resistance to installing metering systems, warning that the lack of transparency allows continued exploitation of national resources.
Despite the damning findings, controversy surrounds the delay in releasing the report, with allegations that the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) is withholding it. The commission, however, says the document is still undergoing standard review before submission to the presidency.
The IATC warned that unless urgent reforms—particularly proper metering—are implemented, oil theft and under-reporting will persist, with ordinary Nigerians bearing the economic consequences.
