The Minister of State for Petroleum, be Kachikwu, has assured of transparency in the sale of Nigeria’s crude oil saying the era of discretionary sale of crude oil by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was over.
Kachikwu explained that only 11 companies were approved to lift crude oil from Nigeria following an open bid process and that the next bids will hold in April 2017.
The minister, who was speaking at the Nigerian Embassy in Beijing about offers for sale of crude oil from Nigeria, warned Chinese businessmen seeking clarifications on the sale of crude that any firm discussing lifting of crude are scammers, according to reports on Channels Television monitored by BusinessDay.
The forum provided an opportunity for officials of the embassy to seek clarification about the sale of crude oil in Nigeria following inquiries from Chinese businessmen who got fraudulent offers from Nigeria.
He explained that the use of discretion in the sale of crude oil by previous administrations led to corruption in country’s oil industry adding that, Nigeria was also investigating reported discovery of Nigeria’s stolen oil in China and appealed to Chinese businessmen who buy stolen oil to stop the practice because it encourages vandalism and militancy in Nigeria.
The meeting was one of the activities on the NNPC roadshow in China to seek investment for the repair and expansion of infrastructure in the nation’s oil industry.
Over 50 billion dollars memorandum of understanding for investment in the oil industry has been signed. One of the agreements is with China’s leading oil company, Sinopec
The minister and his officials also signed an agreement with China’s largest securities and assets management company, Cinda Group.
The company specializes in providing financial lifelines for big companies in the country
The roadshow for investment in the oil sector is also scheduled for India and gulf countries.
KENNETH AZAHAN
