A new Senate investigation has revealed shocking gaps in Nigeria’s crude oil revenue. According to an interim report from the Senate ad hoc committee probing oil theft in the Niger Delta, about ₦300 billion in domestic crude proceeds and over $200 billion from global crude sales cannot be accounted for.

The findings follow months of document reviews, public hearings, and consultations with oil and finance industry players.

Massive Revenue Gaps

The committee reported:

• $22bn in sale mismatches and unaccounted tax oil proceeds

• $81bn difference between crude sales reported by NNPCL and figures recorded by the CBN for 2016–2017

• Over $200bn missing globally from crude oil sales since 2015

According to the panel, weak oversight, poor measurement systems, and a lack of coordination among government agencies have allowed these leakages to continue for years.

How It Happened

The committee pointed to:

• Faulty or unverified measuring instruments

• Suspension of proper measurement oversight under the Petroleum Industry Act

• Poor collaboration among regulatory agencies

• Weak monitoring of pipelines and export terminals

The panel said accurate measurement at production sites is the first step in preventing theft, yet this is where Nigeria is failing the most.

Host Communities Left Out

The report also noted that the Host Communities Development Trust Fund, meant to give oil-producing communities a stake in the industry, has not been implemented. This, it says, fuels vandalism and sabotage as locals feel excluded.

The committee wants authority to track and recover stolen crude funds globally. It also recommended:

• Enforcing international crude measurement standards

• Providing modern surveillance tools like drones and real-time monitoring

• Creating a special court to prosecute oil thieves

• Restoring regulatory agencies removed under the PIA

• Implementing the Host Communities Fund

• Handing abandoned oil wells to modular refineries to reduce vandalism

Industry experts say the report confirms what Nigerians have suspected for years—deep and entrenched corruption in the oil sector.

Some analysts blame the government for failing to act despite knowing the problems. Others say they are no longer shocked, arguing that similar reports in the past have led nowhere.

The Senate says its job is to investigate, not to recover funds. It asked the committee to name those behind the theft and leave further action to the Executive.

For many Nigerians, this raises a familiar question: Will this report lead to real reforms, or will it be forgotten like others before it?