Top officials in Buhari’s administration linked to $1.2bn crude oil, gas theft

Reliable sources have revealed that top government officials of agencies expected to perform supervisory and due diligence roles in the sale and shipments of the nation’s vast hydrocarbon resources are trading away the resources to cartels and reaping the benefits into private pockets

According to the sources, the illegal shipments worth over $1.2bn are shipped to destinations in Europe and the Americas at giveaway prices.

Some of the destination countries where these hydro-carbons are shipped to with the knowledge and protection of top government officials, according to the sources, include Mexico, Brazil, United States and Argentina.

The source said, “In five years, from 2009 to 2013, over $1 billion worth of hydrocarbon products were exported using backdoors from Nigeria to Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and the United States.

Emphasizing that the illegal exportation is still ongoing with the backing of top officials of the government, the source gave a breakdown of some of the under-the-table transactions, mentioning specific vessels’ names and their IMO numbers.

READ ALSO: NNPC: Re: “Crude oil theft is organised crime”

Escobar Port, Bahia and Blanca Port are the usual destinations of the products in Argentina.

“The total value of the products shipped to Argentina in 2013 by three vessels was $52.1 million. 354,018 metric tonnes of hydrocarbon products estimated at over $177 million were illegally exported to Brazil without trace and documentation.”

The transaction to cartels in Brazil showed that “one of the vessels shipped 62,608 metric tonnes of hydrocarbon products valued at $31.3 million; another shipped 60,000 metric tonnes of product valued at $30 million; while a third shipped 55,000 metric tonnes of hydrocarbon products valued at $27.5 million.

“Two other vessels shipped over 120,000 metric tonnes worth more than $60 million to Brazil ports.

“A total of 354,018 metric tonnes of hydrocarbon products valued at $177 million was shipped to Brazil. Over $34 million worth of hydrocarbon products were illegally exported to the USA in six trips using six different vessels for transportation.”

READ ALSO: Agency confirms leak, decries economic impact of oil theft

Cove Port, Lake Charles Port and Sabine Pass Port are some of the popular US ports.

One of the destinations with the highest quantity of backdoor export, according to the source, is Mexico.

“Nigeria LNG products worth $981.5 million were exported to Mexico in 33 trips using different vessels to wade away any form of suspicion. Officials supervised the exportation of the products to Mexico with no official paperwork prepared for the export.

“Of the 28 seaports in Mexico, the vessels used for exporting products from Nigeria all docked Altamira ports.”

The source revealed that in total, over $1.2 billion worth of hydrocarbon products have been illegally exported through back and covered channels from Nigeria to Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and USA in the last five years.

Credit: Vanguard