Over 95% of documents in crude sale transactions are fake

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Sunday announced that about 98 percent of all documents involved in the sale of crude oil were fake.

It cautioned unsuspecting crude oil buyers to be mindful of the activities of local and international fraudsters in the oil and gas sector.

Providing insights into the mode of operation of the conmen, the NNPC’s Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division, Mr. Mele Kyari, said the corporation had no habit of selling crude oil from hotel rooms as done by the scammers.

He stated that the good thing in all the unwholesome development was the fact that the NNPC documents had not leaked and stressed that nearly 98 per cent of all the documents involved were produced by scammers.

Kyari, however, noted that in line with the Federal Government’s anti-corruption crusade and corporation’s commitment towards promoting transparency and accountability, the NNPC had been collaborating with relevant security agencies such as the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to check the fraudsters.

“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 was quoted in a statement issued by the spokesperson for the NNPC.

Shedding light on the scammers’ modus operandi, Kyari said they usually lured their unsuspecting victims with higher discount offers on cargoes, offers of non-OPEC crude specification, crude allocation, and presentation of crude oil sale letters as well as conducting business from hotels.

“The entire public should know that the NNPC doesn’t do business of crude oil marketing from hotel rooms,” he said.

He reiterated that there was only one way of buying crude oil from the NNPC, which was through advertisement for the selection of customers screened for compliance with the corporation’s expectations and standards.

Kyari said, “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.”

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