Nigeria received N269bn in penalties in one year

Michael Eboh

Dublin, Ireland — Nigeria collected N269.3 billion in gas flared penalties from oil and gas companies operating in the country in one year, from January to December 2025, according to latest data released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

The NUPRC, in its updated presentation to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), on its earnings from the petroleum industry, stated that the amount collected from the defaulting oil and gas firm as penalties in 2025 was 86.24 per cent higher than the N144.6 billion penalties paid by the oil firms in the same one-year period in 2024.

In addition, the latest update revealed that the total amount collected from the firms at the end of the 12-month period of 2025 was 6.92 per cent lower than the N289.306 billion recorded for the eleven-month period of January to November 2025, mainly due to various adjustments.

It added that its revenue from gas flared penalties accounted for 2.71 per cent of its total revenue of N9.932 trillion collected from oil and gas companies in the 12-month period of 2025.

The NUPRC noted that it also collected oil and gas royalties, concession rental, and other miscellaneous oil and gas fees in the period under review.

Providing a breakdown of its revenue from gas flare penalties, the NUPRC disclosed that in January 2025, it recorded negative earnings of N22.724 billion, while in February, March and April 2025, it recorded N20.046 billion, N19.766 billion and N24.139 billion, respectively.

It further stated that it collected N42.854 billion, N23.939 billion, N25.413 billion and N28.002 billion, in May, June, July and August 2025, respectively, while in September, October, November and December 2025, gas flare penalties collected from the defaulting firms stood at N25.694 billion, N28.796 billion, N27.929 billion, and N25.444 billion, respectively.

In comparison, in the same 12-month period of 2024, the upstream petroleum industry regulator stated that it did not receive any payment for gas flared penalties for January, February and March; while it collected N13.588 billion, N11.88 billion, N15.11 billion and N16.62 billion in April, May, June and July 2024, respectively.

Additionally, The NUPRC stated that gas flare penalties collected from defaulting oil firms stood at N17.758 billion, N21.69 billion, N12.94 billion and N12.49 billion, N22.6 billion in August, September, October, November, and December 2024, respectively.

Furthermore, the NUPRC reported that from January to December 2025, it collected a total of N9.932 trillion, which was inclusive of NNPC Limited Joint Venture (JV) and Production Sharing Contracts (PSC), Royalty receivables of N742.363 billion, and Project Gazelle Royalties of N941.274 billion for the same period.

It clarified that the total sum of N105.584 billion expected from Project Gazelle and which was due in August 2025 was collected in December 2025.

It further reported that “the amount transferred to the Federation Account in December 2025 was N649.552 billion, while the total amount transferred by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from January to December 2025 was N8.504 trillion.”

Explaining its performance for December 2025, the NUPRC stated that in the last month of 2025, it collected a total of N649.552 billion, representing 53.92 per cent of its budgeted target of N1.205 trillion.

It added that the total amount collected in December was 1.59 per cent lower than the N660.041 billion collected in November 2025, while it blamed fluctuation in crude oil prices and shortfall in the country’s crude oil production for the low earnings, vis-à-vis its budgeted target.