Corporation says 98% of documents in crude sale transactions are fake

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has warned oil buyers that about 98% of all documents involved in the sale of crude oil were fake.

This disclosure was made by the corporation's Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division, Mele Kyari, on Sunday, August 27, 2017.

Kyari cautioned potential buyers that documents involved in nearly 98% of transactions are produced by scammers working out of hotel rooms.

He said, "The entire public should know that the NNPC doesn't do business of crude oil marketing from hotel rooms."

This was revealed in a statement issued by the corporation's spokesperson, Ndu Ughamadu, where he also disclosed that the corporation is working with relevant security agencies to curb the menace of scammers preying on unsuspecting buyers.

He said, "Already, this massive collaboration with security agencies is paying off. Some arrests have been made while, on our part, we assist the security agencies by providing evidence in the course of their prosecution."

He said the scammers defraud potential buyers mostly by luring them with higher discount offers on cargoes, offering non-OPEC crude specification, crude allocation, and presentation of crude oil sale letters.

He warned that the corporation only engages in legitimate business through advertisement for the selection of customers screened for compliance with the corporation's expectations and standards.

According to him, "There are very high standards we have set and if you don't meet them, you cannot be our customer. And once you become our customer, we sign a single annual contract with you.

"The beauty of selling crude oil is that the moment we sell the crude oil cargo to you, the entire world knows that cargo X is with Mr. Y. So you see, you don’t have to scavenge for who buys your crude."

Kyari stressed that the customer had to show the capability to sell the cargo to the market before the corporation can consider doing business with them.