WHO COULD BE BEHIND THIS RATING? : Nigeria gets weak rating in crude oil resources management ... GuradianNews

NIGERIA received a “weak” score of 42, ranking 40th out of 58 countries in performance on the Resource Governance Index (RGI) in oil and gas sector in 2013.
  Nigeria’s “partial” score of 66 reflects substantial public access to information but incomplete revenue disclosure policies.
  According to the report, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources grants licenses for oil exploration, while the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) under the minister, oversees the licensing process and regulates the sector.
  It stated: “Nigeria’s tax agency receives taxes on petroleum profits and other hydrocarbon-related levies, while the Department of Petroleum Resources collects rents, royalties, license fees, bonuses, and other payments. Some revenues bypass the treasury and are not reported to the legislature. Nigeria adopted a Freedom of Information Act in 2011.
A lack of contract transparency and incomplete reporting on most aspects of the petroleum industry led to a “failing” score of 38”.
  It stated that the Petroleum Resources Ministry publishes little information on the upstream licensing process, fiscal and production arrangements, contracts, environmental impact assessments, or operational data. “It publishes no reports on revenues.
  “In contrast, the Finance Ministry publishes information on production volumes, prices, the value of resource exports, estimates of investment in exploration and development, production costs, costs of subsidies, production stream values, royalties, special taxes, and the government’s share in production sharing contracts.
  “The central bank regularly publishes information on production volumes, prices, the value of crude oil exports, production costs, production streams value, royalties, and special taxes. Nigeria’s 2012 Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative report covers the 2009-2011 fiscal years and includes comprehensive information on industry operations and disaggregated revenue streams”.
  The report noted that Nigeria’s “partial” score of 53 is a reflection of incomplete government monitoring but substantial conflict-of-interest disclosure requirements.
  It stated: “The minister of petroleum resources exercises wide discretion in awarding licenses, despite a policy of open bidding, and the legislative branch has limited oversight of the process.
  “The Office of the Auditor General for the Federation is statutorily responsible for conducting periodic audits of public accounts; audits are published but are at least two years old. Audits of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have never been disclosed.
Nigeria received a “failing” score of 18, the product of particularly poor rankings on government effectiveness and the rule of law.
  “Nigeria created a Sovereign Wealth Fund in May 2011. It received $1 billion in seed money from the state but is not yet operation- al. The Excess Crude Oil Account currently receives revenues directly from oil extraction. Structurally, the central bank and the Finance Ministry oversee the account; in practice, the president has substantial control over deposits and withdrawals”.
I said that oil-producing states receive 13 per cent of revenues from the oil produced in their state, in addition to standard revenue allocations. The Finance Ministry publishes regular reports on the transfers. The government appears to follow the rules for resource revenue sharing established by legislation.