Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, is set to inject N44 billion into various oil projects in a bid to bolster its petroleum sector.
While the potential for boosting the sector and national economy is undeniable, questions remain about how the funds will be distributed and the expected outcomes.
Data sourced from Nigeria’s 2024 budget showed the country’s petroleum ministry budget heavily prioritizes personnel and overhead expenses over major projects.
Nearly 77 per cent of the total allocation goes towards staff salaries and office costs, leaving just 10 percent for capital projects.
Specifically, the proposal for the 2024 Appropriation Bill presented by the president to the National Assembly stated that N33.9 billion was budgeted for personnel cost while N4.399 billion was for overhead, bringing the total allocated to personnel and overhead in the ministry to N38.3 billion.
Giving a breakdown of the allocation, the budget document revealed that the Headquarters of the petroleum ministry, the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) and Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) received budget allocations of N9.641 billion, N18.759 billion and N15.772 billion, respectively, out of which N1.063 billion, N17.713 billion and N15.125 billion, respectively, was earmarked for personnel expenses.
Overheads for the Headquarters of the petroleum ministry, PTI and NNRA stood at N3.181 billion, N800.53 million and N418.698 million, respectively.
Major capital projects in the petroleum ministry include consultancy for legal services and litigation N80.205 million; implementation of new gas policy N25.75 million; oil and gas sector reforms N25.215 million; development of critical managerial competencies through performance enhancement workshop for the oil and gas sector N128.5 million; and national oil and gas production economic model N20 million.
Others are the implementation of nine oil and gas priority projects N28 million; Public Private Partnership (PPP) project initiative N338 million; the Establishment of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources (MPR) Procurement Information Management System (PIMS), N14.435 million; the National Gas Expansion Programme N20.434 million; and Emission Reduction Programme: Green Bond Issuance N10 million.
The government also allocated N12.09 million for modular refinery development programme; N32.4 million for the commercialisation and liberalisation programme for the downstream sector; N22.1 million for the Nigerian Oil and Gas Infrastructure Rebirth and Asset Management programme; and N10.2 million for the development of the oil and gas petrochemical component of the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP)-Downstream Infrastructure Mapping.
It also budgeted N44.5 million for the organisation of the annual National Council On Hydrocarbon (NCH); N10 million for the stabilisation of peace and polity in the Niger Delta; N20 million for the development of the National Strategy on Acreage Management; N20 million for the national strategic hydrocarbon reserve projects; and N20 million for the annual compliance audit of the Joint Operating Agreements (JOA) and production sharing controls.
The government also budgeted N200 million for the review of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA); N1.5 billion for the take-off grant/funding of the Ministry of Petroleum Incorporated (MOPI) and N200 million for the Minister of Petroleum Resources (MPR) ministerial retreat.
