Nigeria: Troubling report finds nation lost $10B through mega-oil mergers

A report conducted by Nigeria’s Committees on Justice and Finance on the House of Representatives has found startling evidence that the world’s largest oil conglomerates have failed to pay about $10 billion in merger fees over the last 10 years.

Companies including Chevron and Texaco, Elf and Fina, and Movil and Exxon were named in the report. Their mergers in the last decade should have provided the nation with about $10 billion in revenue from taxes and fees.

Reports say the government’s findings highlight the practice of oil companies evading these fees while officials neglect to enforce certain laws or prosecute violators.

Under the nation’s Company and Petroleum laws, oil companies are required to pay statutory fees to regularize a new status in the country after a merger. These rules are aligned with international best practices, reports say. But the oil companies named in the report neglected to pay these fees, the government claims.

Full content: The Sun

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