The International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to resume the publication of monthly reports.
“While the authorities have published the annual financial reports of the NNPC since 2019, the publishing of monthly reports of oil fiscal transfers to the government have stopped following the conversion of the NNPC to a public limited company,” the IMF said in its staff report for the 2022 Article IV Consultation released on Thursday.
“Staff recommended the resumption of publication of the monthly reports along with the audit of oil fiscal revenues received from the NNPC,” it added.
It described as welcome recent measures to tackle oil theft in the country, which saw its oil production tumble to its lowest in several decades and missed the benefits of higher prices in the international markets.
The Washington-based fund recommended steady actions in the fight against oil theft along with increased transparency of NNPC’s oil fiscal transfers.
Real GDP growth is expected to moderately improve on account of measures taken to tackle security issues in the oil sector, according to the report.
The IMF said: “With two of the large oil pipelines, Trans Niger Pipeline and Forcados, back in usage carrying 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), and the Ikike field coming on stream with a production capacity of 50,000 bpd, oil production is projected to increase starting in 2023.
“However, overall oil production in the medium term are projected to remain below pre-pandemic levels on account of the retrenchment of the oil majors from onshore oil delivery and exploration.”
