Who are the ‘lucky’ companies authorised to lift crude oil?
Well, the Nigerian National Petroluem Corporation, NNPC has announced the approval of new licenses to international and Nigerian companies to lift crude oil.
As regards the criteria for its selection, the NNPC said it was based “on their pedigree as large scale buyers of Nigerian crude with structure for short term freight intervention and storage”.
According to a document obtained by BusinessDay Newspaper, the following companies are now authorised to lift crude oil from Nigeria with specific quantities:
The off-takers approved to lift crude oil are: Emirates National Oil Coy, ENOC, Indian Oil Corporation, CEPSA Refinery Madrid and Sara SPA Refinery.
Also, three international trading companies were approved to lift crude oil include: Trafigura PT Limited, Mercuria Energy Trading SA and Vitol SA were awarded the contract for the lifting of 32,000 barrels of crude per day each, representing 10 per cent of the total volume on offer.
Also, trading Affiliates of International Oil Companies, comprising ENI Trading and Shipping SPA, TOTSA Total Oil Trading SA, Exxon Sale and Supply LLC and Shell Western Supply and Trading also received term allocation of 32,000 barrels per day each, totalling 128,000 bpd and representing about 13 per cent of the total volume of crude oil on offer.
The NNPC also certified Nigerian operators companies in the downstream sector with wide experience in crude trading and large asset base accounted for 405,000 bpd, representing about 41 per cent of the total crude volume on offer.
In this category, Emo Oil & Petrochemical Company/China Zhenhea, an NNPC long-term trader, was allocated 45,000 bpd.”
This category also include Northwest Petroleum and Gas, 45,000 bpd; Forte Oil, 45,000 bpd; Oando Plc, 60,000 bpd; Sahara Energy Resources, 60,000 bpd; A. A. Rano Nigeria, 45,000 bpd; Eterna Oil, 45,000 bpd; and MRS Oil & Gas Company, 60,000 bpd.
NNPC Trading Companies Calson/Hyson, 32,000 bpd; and Duke Oil Incorporated, 90,000 bpd, account for a combined off-take of 122,000 bpd or about 12 per cent of the total volume on offer.
The report said there was no mention of Taleveras Petroleum Trading, Masters Energy, Sacoil Energy Equity Resources Limited, Strategic Fuel Fund, Sinopec (UNIPEC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited.
The SINOPEC is China’s largest oil company. The exemption of the company from the list might suggest that the Chinese oil giant has perhaps buying less of Nigerian crude and or it has stopped totally. Sinopec is also the second largest oil company in the world with USD455.5 billion revenue in 2015.
Nigeria has been facing serious revenue drought since the crash of the global oil price. Incessant vandalisation of oil installations in the Niger Delta by militants has also driven Nigeria’s oil output to the lowest in 10 years. The disruption of the Forcados trunk line was estimated to have cost Nigeria USD3 billion in revenue loss.
