The Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador, Denise Hanrahan, today delivered a performance audit report on the Oil and Gas Corporation (OilCo) to the House of Assembly. Today’s report contains findings and recommendations regarding OilCo’s employee compensation and benefits, operating expenses, as well as adherence to conflict of interest policies and legislation.

The Office of the Auditor General issued two performance audits on Nalcor Energy in 2022 – the first focused on discretionary expenses, conflict of interest, and embedded contractors; the second focused on employee compensation. However, because OilCo was not a separate entity at the time of the Nalcor audits, a separate audit was necessary to assess the new organization against the same audit areas.

The audit of OilCo concluded that OilCo did not manage employee compensation in accordance with government direction.  The audit found that they did not ensure the best possible use of public money. The report also identified several areas of concern around operating expense and oversight processes, as well as issues where OilCo’s conflict of interest processes could have been strengthened.

The full report as well as an audit overview can be found by visiting. www.ag.gov.nl.ca.

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“As a public sector corporation, it is incumbent on OilCo to pursue prudent practices regarding public money and that it follow government direction. OilCo’s refusal to align its employee compensation and benefits policies and practices with government whenever possible, has meant the corporation has incurred unnecessary and excess expenses.”
Denise Hanrahan
Auditor General of Newfoundland and Labrador

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