The Auditor-General’s report on the general management of petroleum funds for the period of January 1 to December 31, 2022, has revealed that the government failed to retrieve a total of US$2,774,067 being funds for surface rentals by 12 oil companies.
The AG’s report disclosed that the total estimated proceeds for surface rentals for the period amounted to US$3,461,825.95 out of which only US$687,759 was received from the defaulting oil companies.
“Total Surface Rentals outstanding as of 31st December 2022 remains at US$2.77 million (2021: 2.60 million) due from 12 out of the 18 operating Companies. Out of the 12 debtors, eight (8) Companies have Existing Petroleum Agreements while the remaining four (4) had their Petroleum Agreements terminated.
“Our review of correspondence received from the Petroleum Commission disclosed that the total estimated proceeds for surface rentals at the end of the reporting period was US$3,461,825.95. The amount is made up of US$882,655 and US$2,579,171 for the 2022 financial year and the prior period’s outstanding amount respectively.
“A total amount of US$687,759 was received from oil companies for surface rental operations in the 2022 financial year however, US$71,935 of the amount received related to the terminated contract.”
The report added that “As of 31 December 2022, the total amount due from surface rentals was US$2,774,067 representing 80% of estimated receipts from surface rentals in the 2022 financial year. US$1,803,124 of the outstanding amount related to four contractors whose Petroleum Agreements were terminated by the Minister of Energy.”
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