RMAFC scraps disputed oil well report, orders fresh verification
The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has discarded its previous draft report on disputed oil and gas wells and ordered a fresh verification of well coordinates from 2017 to date.
RMAFC Chairman, Dr Mohammed Bello Shehu, disclosed this on Wednesday while inaugurating a reconstituted Inter-Agency Technical Committee (IATC) to undertake the verification.
Speaking, he said the decision followed claims, counterclaims and complaints from states over the earlier exercise, particularly concerns about the accuracy of well coordinates and their plotting on approved maps.
He said the exercise was necessary to strengthen the credibility of revenue monitoring and ensure equitable distribution of the 13 per cent derivation fund among oil and gas-producing states.
RMAFC is responsible for verifying the locations of oil fields and wells and attributing production for the purpose of the 13 per cent derivation allocation.
Shehu directed the committee to re-verify the coordinates of disputed and newly drilled wells, accurately plot the verified locations on approved maps and ensure that the boundaries evaluated reflect the actual situation on the ground.
He also directed the committee to take relevant court decisions into consideration and conduct physical verification of affected wells where necessary.
The fresh exercise will cover disputed and newly drilled oil and gas wells from 2017 to date.
The committee comprises technical officers and experts from RMAFC, the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation, the National Boundary Commission and the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The first tier of the committee will handle field verification, technical inspections, analysis and preparation of an initial report, while an Executive Committee led by RMAFC’s leadership will provide strategic direction and oversee the final approval of the findings.
Surveyors-General from affected states and representatives of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) are also expected to participate as observers.
Shehu said the Commission would provide the committee with institutional support, including engagement with security agencies where necessary to facilitate field operations in difficult and coastal locations.
The latest exercise comes months after disagreements over the handling of an earlier IATC report on disputed oil wells. In April, RMAFC had said the earlier report was still undergoing institutional review after reports that it had been discarded.
The Commission has previously said that oil-well verification can affect the attribution of derivation revenue to producing states. In August, Shehu disclosed that previous verification exercises had resolved oil-well attribution issues, including the reallocation of 17 wells from Imo State to Rivers State following a Supreme Court judgment.
The fresh verification is therefore expected to provide an updated technical basis for determining the locations and state attribution of the disputed and newly drilled wells before the findings are submitted for formal ratification.
The exercise is also intended to provide a more definitive resolution to disputes among beneficiary states over oil and gas well locations and the associated revenue allocation.