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Tag: NNPC

  • NNPC moves to arrest artificial fuel scarcity

    NNPC moves to arrest artificial fuel scarcity

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiary, Pipeline and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), yesterday moved to track the distribution of the pemium motor spirit (PMS) across the country, following worsening scarcity of the product across the country.

    PPMC, NNPC said, has set up a leaner and efficient organization to carry out the assignment of verification of sales in all the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

    The corporation, which released the figures of yesterday’s dispatch of product to filling stations to journalists, said it would upload the daily inventory on its website on a daily basis.

    It urged Nigerians to use the dispatch inventory to hold petrol stations accountable should they refuse to sell proportionally to their allocations.

    Addressing journalists in Abuja, NNPC’s Managing Director of Retail, Mr. Ladipo Fagbola, revealed that the corporation had directed its affiliate stations to operate for 24 hours, with maximum security protection where necessary.

    Speaking, PPMC Executive Director of Commercial, Mr. Justin Ezeala, said the new organisation is a task force that is going round to see what is happening to the products that are supplied to Nigerians.

    He said: “We are doing extended hours—24 hours at strategic locations,. The only thing that I want to add is that I have hotlines here.

    “When you get to any NNPC retail station and you see things that are not right, please call lines 08057008021, 08052195801 and 08100941174.

    “Take photograph of whatever you have seen and send it to these lines.

    “We are working round the clock. We appreciate all Nigerians. We are working round the clock to ensure that we have good service delivery.”

    Fagbola urged the media to conduct underground sting operation.

    “Go to the depots as press men. Go there and see what is going on. There is a possibility you are going to catch the people causing this disruption.

    “Don’t just take NNPC word for it but go to NNPC depots. Go to private depots. Go to the petrol station in this era of social media, catch some people redhanded for us and send us the details. That is the only way people can realize that things have changed.”

    The corporation however warned against panic buying of premium motor spirit (PMS), noting that it has over 66 million litres in stock while looking forward to the arrival of 1.4 billion litres within the month.

    While available stock would last for sixteen and a half days, the total 1.4 billion litres will sustain the country for 35 days.

    But Fagbola who dismissed insinuations of lack of stock and plans to reduce the pump price, said that the corporation has been grappling with the challenges of vandalism of pipelines, which had made it to resort to trucking the products through roads in the last seven months.

    He added that the gridlock in Apapa had also contributed to the challenge of transporting fuel easily.

    He said: “The fact is that as I speak with you, we have within our depots 66 million litres of PMS. We have partner depots, which are private depots. They have 118 million litres of PMS.

    “The stock we have in the vessels, which are coming from Lagos is 428 million litres, and the major marketers have about 34 million litres. This gives us a total of about 667 million litres as we speak.

    “And based on our consumption estimate of 40 million litres per day, we have about sixteen and a half-day sufficiency.

    “What we have also done is to have a feel of what we have coming in before the end of November. From PPMC alone, we have about 380 million litres confirmed deliveries before the end of November. From other major marketers, we have 376 million litres coming.

    “So, if you add that to what we currently have on ground, we are going to have a total of 1.4 billion litres of PMS. This gives us 35 days sufficiency.”

    He admitted that there are challenges which the corporation is grappling with.

    “You know about the pipelines. In the last couple of months, the pipelines have not been used to transport fuel. What we have done to sustain the current supply is to move cargo by vessels. We take them on another ship from storage and truck them.

    “That is not a preferred way of supply but that is what we have done for the past six to seven months,” he said.

    He said that the loss which the Federal Government has recorded from vandalism of pipelines alone was already running into billions of naira.

    Following the attack on pipelines, he said, government has deployed soldiers to Arepo and other places that are prone to attack.

     

  • PENGASSAN gets new officers at NNPC CHQ

    PENGASSAN gets new officers at NNPC CHQ

    Senior members of the staff at the headquaters of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have elected new officers to lead them for the next three years.

    The workers, under the aegis of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), picked Comrade Matthew Duru as their chairman. He took over from Comrade Nuhu Marcus Avong.

    In his acceptance speech, Duru promised to ensure continuity of Avong’s programmes.

    “I promise that I will not disappoint all who voted me into power. I will work hand-in-hand with the former Chairman, Comrade Avong, and I will always seek his advice on issues. I will continue from where he stopped to take our branch to a higher level,” he said.

    Duru assured other officers and members of a cordial working relationship, promising to maintain a good working relationship with national and zonal levels of PENGASSAN.

    PENGASSAN President Comrade Francis Olabode Johnson said all hands must be on deck to ensure that the ongoing reforms in the oil and gas industry work for the benefit of the members.

    He said: “The ongoing reforms will definitely pose some challenges, but we should work together to derive benefits from the reforms.

    “The government has promised to  revamp refineries and we have seen the steps taken so far. Port Harcourt Refinery is now working. I enjoin everyone in the branch to work as a team, so that we can see the plans of the government coming to fulfilment.”

  • NNPC targets $20b income

    NNPC targets $20b income

    The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said that the corporation is projecting the inflow of $20 billion investments next year to enable  it fund major projects and improve its revenue.

    He described 2016 as a crucial year for the NNPC as it is expected to transit from historic loss environment to profit making domain.

    In a presentation to the Petroleum Club, Lagos, at the weekend, titled: “Ongoing reforms in the oil industry: Impact of NNPC reforms on the Nigerian economy”,  Kachikwu noted that the country may well be on the verge of a significant oil find in the Lake Chad area in the Northeast, based on analysis of recent seismic 3D data generated from the Chad Basin.

    According to him, the corporation is injecting a lot of energy into the effort to ensure success in this regard.

    The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ohi Alegbe , who disclosed this in a statement yesterday, quoted Kachikwu as saying: “There are signs from the latest 3D seismic studies that oil may well be very close to being found now in Lake Chad after very many years of trials. I think that this is very key.  It is key both for the geographical balancing of oil production and it is also very key for the purpose of Refinery placement in the North in terms of access to crude. I am optimistic that by the end of the year we should be able to announce something major on this, ’’ the GMD said.

    Dr. Kachikwu noted that in driving and developing Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, certain key areas of urgent intervention  have been identified thus : running production acreages with transparent and profitable partnerships to bridge capacity and funding gaps; encourage investment inflow into to Nigeria’s oil and gas industry; engagement with local communities and driving regulation to develop the sector income- via encouragement of the fast track PIB to clarify direction and encourage long-term investment in the industry.

    In engagement with host communities, Kachikwu said in the years ahead, NNPC, as the senior partner in the various Joint Venture arrangements, must take leadership in fostering a healthy and symbiotic host community engagement outlook, which must focus in what he termed “what the communities want us to do for them and not what we want to do’’.

    The target includes: Reduce and audit cost, restructure corporate centre and staffing, renegotiate existing contracts, including PSCs, streamline subsidy management, boost pipeline security, enhance transparency and accountability, achieving zero tolerance for corruption, rebrand NNPC and unbundle PPMC.

  • NNPC seeks $500m to fix refineries

    NNPC seeks $500m to fix refineries

    • Says 85% of losses from PPMC

    To fix the nation’s ailing refineries, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it has finalised plans to get external funds of $500 million.

    The Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, said this yesterday in Lagos as a guest speaker at a luncheon organised by The Petroleum Club Lagos. The NNPC chief said the decision to seek repayable fund is in line with the transformation of the NNPC to become an autonomous business venture.

    The $500 million, Kachikwu said, will bring the refineries back on course to give the required capacity output, adding that the funds would be repaid over the next seven to nine years.

    He reiterated his commitment to making NNPC a profitable company, and to accomplish this target, he has adopted some measures including the unbundling of the corporation, cancellation of offshore processing agreement (OPA), crude swap and other unprofitable business models.

    He said the two of the refineries would be shut down for eight to nine months for quick repairs, while the remaining, which are better in shape would be used to supplement imports. They would be shut down after the other two are back on stream.

    To turn NNPC from its current loss to profit position, Kachikwu said next year will be the most challenging in the transition and transformation programme of NNPC and the oil industry. “From 2016, we (NNPC) will have a budget and work within the budget.  There will be no arbitrary deductions from the corporation’s revenues because it belongs to the government. Other important projects and activities not covered by the budget, the corporation will seek external funds like any other company, which it will repay. We have made our books open and transparent. Our accounts will be audited, and financial organizations that lend would be able to know the state of the company and basis for which they will lend,” he said.

    The NNPC chief also said the Pipeline and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), an arm of the Corporation, is his worst headache. According to him, 85 per cent of NNPC losses come from PPMC because of vandalism, community issues and connivance of some of the staff with the perpetrators of the crime.

    To check the development, Kachikwu said he has moved the depot managers in PPMC, and has stopped pumping of products in the night. He said products are now pumped during the day.

     

  • Buhari hails NNPC, Agip, Oando

    Buhari hails NNPC, Agip, Oando

    President Muhammadu Buhari has praised the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC)  and its partners, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Oando, for the Green River Project (GRP) which has covered over 120 rural communities and empowered over 35,000 farmers. GRP is the firm’s agric intervention project.

    In an audio-visual message to an agricultural exhibition and Farmers’ Day, organised by NAOC, Buhari explained that the company’s GRP had become more important “now that oil has ceased to be the nation’s cash cow. We have no option, but to turn to agriculture. Diversification of our economy is no longer something to pay lip service to,” he said.

    He unfolded the government’s agricultural development programme aimed at attaining self-sufficiency in food production and yearly export of 10 million tonnes of grains and processed food by 2019  to farmers from Bayelsa, Delta, Imo and Rivers states during the celebration.

    The return of marketing corporations is to serve as the main platform of the government’s programme which is also expected to lead to the development of 740,000 market-oriented young agricultural producers from among unemployed youths.

    In the speech delivered on his behalf by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Sonny Echono, the President said government’s strategies include: establishment of Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP), which will benefit 20,000 school leavers and rural youth leaders in each state of the federation and develop 18,500 university graduates into young agribusiness entrepreneur called “nagropreneurs” and Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprises (AEHEs) – a private sector led mechanisation programme which will inject a total of 6,000 units of tractors and implements, 15,000 power tillers, 20,000 planting and postharvest equipment to mechanise an estimated four million hectares of land nationwide.

    The Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Fulvio Rustico  described the GRP of NAOC as a means to re-enforce a healthy relationship and cooperation between his country and Nigeria.

    The Chairman of NAOC, Mr. Ciro Antonio Pagano with his Vice, Massimo Insulla in their respective remarks spoke on the impact of GRPin the four stakeholder  states.

    They also spoke about the potential of the Project becoming a pivot for the development of the agric sector in Nigeria as it will serve as a major platform for knowledge sharing among farmers, academia, public extension services and agro allied industry.

  • NNPC opts for direct sale of crude

    NNPC opts for direct sale of crude

    In a major shift, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday opted to, henforth, buy crude oil and petroleum products directly from credible international companies.

    This approach, it said, would ensure more transparency and eliminate middlemen in the crude oil exchange for  product matrix.

    NNPC spokesman Mr. Ohi Alegbe said the time had come for the replacement of the 11 Offshore Processing Arrangement (OPA) options with the more efficient Direct-Sale-Direct Purchase (DSDP) alternative.

    Alegbe explained that the NNPC took its position after the evaluation of pre-qualified bidders showed that most of the 44 companies earlier shortlisted for the next stage of the tender process only had affiliations to refineries abroad, thereby bringing a toll on the value chain.

    The NNPC said if allowed to subsist, the development would constitute a significant value loss to the federation through accruals.

    “In this regard, only bona fide owners of refineries identified in the ongoing OPA Tender Evaluation process will be further engaged. The identified refineries will be subjected to due diligence and analysis by NNPC-appointed consultants to confirm suitability in line with international best practice,’’ the corporation said.

    NNPC said the call for commercial bids issued to the 44 shortlisted bidders made up of 34 international firms and 10 indigenous companies have been withdrawn.

    But the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) called for the reduction of crude oil allocation to NNPC.

    Speaking at a valedictory ceremony at the NEITI head office, Abuja, the outgoing Executive Secretary, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed explained that of all the crude allocated to domestic refineries, not more than 28 per cent is utilised; about 35 per cent is exported.

    The revenue from the exported crude, according to her, is spent on financing NNPC operations. But, she insisted that if the Federal Government prunes crude allocation to the corporation it would be compelled to seek other means of financing and become more efficient.

    Mrs. Ahmed said: “My advice and what NEITI has been recommending is that we should reduce the level of crude that we allocate to the NNPC. We have said over time that this will serve as an incentive for the refineries to improve their performance capacities.

    “ So if we reduce what we allocate to NNPC today, the refining capacity plus small margin, it will improve more capacity development for the refineries.

    In the past, the revenue from the sale of domestic crude oil had served as the major means of financing NNPC. If we reduce that, it means that NNPC has to look for some other ways to finance its operation and therefore it will be forced to become more efficient. “

    She advised the Federal Government to review its expenditure on Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) also known as fuel subsidy.

    Mrs. Ahmed advised the government to remove the subsidy in phases.

    Asked whether the government now has accurate record of oil produced in Nigeria, Mrs. Ahmed said it is difficult for NEITI  to ascertain what is produced until the metering issue is addressed.

    The minister-designate said what NEITI calculates in its audit is the royalty that is paid at the point of export instead of royalties at the well-head and flow stations forming its bases of analyses.

    She said: “That means that the country is losing significant revenue for that gap. And for that reason, we are unable to ascertain what is missing because if you don’t know what is produced at the point of production, and you are only measuring what is produced at the point of export, everything that is in within is based on different kinds of estimates  and calculations and so on.  So it is difficult for us in NEITI to say that we know exactly what is being produced unless this metering issue is addressed.”

    Listing NEITI’s achievement, she said following the regular reporting of NEITI, the government recovered over $2.4billion into Federation Account.

    The organisation, she said, had also through its audit reports made disclosures of over $billion as recoverable revenue to government.

    NEITI, according to her, has prepared the next audit, which only now awaits the approval of a yet to be constituted board to be released.

    She said the organisation has till next month to release the report or risk the sanction of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

    She handed over to the Director of Communications, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, the establishment’s most senior director.

  • NNPC paid N790.75b into govt coffers in 9 months

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday said it paid N790.75 billion into the Federation Account between January and September.

    It also realised N38.67 billion from the sale of petroleum products in September. The figure for August was N44.24 billion.

    These were contained in NNPC’s Monthly Financial and Operation Report for September. The corporation started issuing the report in August in line with its Group Managing Director (GMD), Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu’s promise to throw its books open monthly for public scrutiny.

    The practice was never in place in all the years – 38 – of NNPC’s existence until Kachikwu became its helmsman in August.

    According to the report, the revenue was from “white products” sold by the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC).

    “White products” include Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) popularly known as diesel; Household Kerosine (HHK) and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) commonly known as petrol.

    The report said the dollar payments to Joint Venture (JV) Cash Call and Federation Account from January to September was $3.69billion.

    “Of the total receipts, $0.61billion was remitted to the Federation Account, the balance of $3.09 billion was used to fund the JV Cash Call for the period,” NNPC said, adding:

    “The dwindling oil price has negatively affected the NNPC dollar contribution to the Federation Account”.

    The continued decline in oil price, it said, led to insufficient cash available to meet JV Cash Calls obligations of about $615.8 million monthly as appropriated by the National Assembly.

    To mitigate this effect, the report said: “NNPC was compelled to sweep all the export receipt to JV Cash Call funding implying a zero remittance to Federation Account since April 2015 .”

    On refinery operations, NNPC said the “Total Crude processed by three refineries, for September was 261,371.14 bbls (35,648 MT) which translates to a combined capacity utilisation of 1.96%.”

    The country has four refineries – one each in Warri (Delta State) and Kaduna and two in Port Harcourt (Rivers).

    During the period under review, according to NNPC, only Port Harcourt Refinery Corporation (PHRC) produced 31,008million MT of petroleum products out of 35,648 MT (261,371.14 bbls) of crude processed at an average capacity utilisation of 5.77%.

    In terms of crude processed and production for September, it said the combined value of output by the three refineries (at import parity price) for September amounted to N9.91billion; the associated crude plus freight cost was N6.35 billion, giving a loss of N8.84 billion after considering overhead of N12.40 billion.

    On Refinery Financial Performance from January to September, NNPC said it was derived from its proceeds from Petroleum Product Supply & Distribution and Petroleum Product Supply from Off-shore Processing Agreements (OPA).

    It said: “In September 2015, 763.90 million litres of white products were supplied into the country through the OPA compared with a volume of 701.29 million litres achieved in August. DPK receipt in September was 196.30 million litres compared with zero litres imported in August.”

    NNPC maintained that production by the refineries in September amounted to 75.78 million litres compared to 200.25 million litres in August.

    On downstream petroleum products distribution, the corporation said 507.90 million litres of white products were distributed and sold by PPMC in September compared with 606.84 million litres in August.

    This, said the report, comprised 456.81 million litres of petrol, 31.41 million litres of kerosene and 19.68 million litres of diesel.

    Total sale of white products by the NNPC/PPMC between January and September, it said, stood at 6.41billion litres, with petrol (5.08 billion litres) accounting for 79%.

    Total sales revenues for white products sold for the period stands at N461.19 billion petrol contributed about 86% of the revenues collected with a value of N395.689 billion.

    In the period under review, the sector’s domestic gas supply to power was an average of 773mmscfd that was delivered to the gas fired power plants in September “to generate an average power of about 3,141 MW compared with a 2015 YTD average gas supply 656mmscfd and power generation of 2,843MW.”

  • 278 firms bid for NNPC crude grades

    278 firms bid for NNPC crude grades

    •Oil giant ‘committed to transparency’

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday opened the bids of the 278 firms for the sale and purchase of crude oil grades.

    The companies include  Televaris, Voyage Oil and Gas, Northbridge Energy, Linkstar Venture, United Refining Gashion, Stat Oil, Walter Smitth, SODE, Obat International Limited, Samgulf Petrolchemical Limited and Otahiyi Global Investment Company Limited.

    NNPC Group Managing Director  Dr. Ibe Kachikwu said the corporation would this week sell-off the over 20 cargoes of crude oil that have been in the market since the end of last year.

    NNPC Group Executive Director ( GED) Commercial and Investment Mr. Babatunde Adeniran, said the bid took cognisant of the fact that “at the end of last year, Nigeria has over 20 unsold cargoes in the market.”

    The NNPC, he said, is now on the path of transparency, accountability and probity.

    Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division, Malam Mele Kyari, said the Federal Government is strategising to balance the pricing of crude.

    Kyari said the bidding would impact on the pricing of oil in the international market. He explained that the deal will now make the Nigerian crude predictable.

    He said the current volume of oil that the Federal Government is entitled to from the production stream is 960,000 barrel per day (bpd) saying NNPC will limit its contracts to that bracket.

    NNPC, he said, is attempting to ensure that the crude ends up  in the procession of the ultimate buyers in order to avoid the present shock in pricing. He added that the corporation will ensure that Nigeria is not a major contributor to her own pricing instability.

    According to him, credible buyers are absent from the market and it has culminated in a situation where individuals hoard cargoes.

    Kyari lamented the situation “in which you have oversupply- fake oversupply that doesn’t exist and then the market reacts to that and then you have lower value.

    “We have to make sure that we optimise the value of our crude. And for you to do that, you must have credible and reliable customers.  And these customers also need you, mind you, they need to lock up their deals. They call them deals. “What that means is that they have buyers who take up from them and they need to be guaranteed.

    They need some level of stability that will enable them plan with it.”

    The NNPC, according to him, recorded 43 buyers in the past, which made it impossible for it to guarantee its monthly off-take to customers.

    He said with the present bidding process, the government is pruning the number to 16 to stabilise the market and satisfy the customers.

    He said the corporation will guard against selling to one category of buyer in order to forestall hoarding of crude.

     

  • Buhari hails NNPC, Agip, Oando on agri programme

    President Muhammadu Buhari has praised the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC)  and its partners, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Oando, for the Green River Project (GRP) which has covered over 120 rural communities and empowered over 35,000 farmers. GRP is the firm’s agric intervention project.

    In an audio-visual message to an agricultural exhibition and Farmers’ Day, organised by NAOC, Buhari explained that the company’s GRP had become more important “now that oil has ceased to be the nation’s cash cow. We have no option, but to turn to agriculture. Diversification of our economy is no longer something to pay lip service to,” he said.

    He unfolded the government’s agricultural development programme aimed at attaining self-sufficiency in food production and yearly export of 10 million tonnes of grains and processed food by 2019  to farmers from Bayelsa, Delta, Imo and Rivers states during the celebration.

    The return of marketing corporations is to serve as the main platform of the government’s programme which is also expected to lead to the development of 740,000 market-oriented young agricultural producers from among unemployed youths.

    In the speech delivered on his behalf by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Sonny Echono, the President said government’s strategies include: establishment of Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP), which will benefit 20,000 school leavers and rural youth leaders in each state of the federation and develop 18,500 university graduates into young agribusiness entrepreneur called “nagropreneurs” and Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprises (AEHEs) – a private sector led mechanisation programme which will inject a total of 6,000 units of tractors and implements, 15,000 power tillers, 20,000 planting and postharvest equipment to mechanise an estimated four million hectares of land nationwide.

    The Italian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Fulvio Rustico  described the GRP of NAOC as a means to re-enforce a healthy relationship and cooperation between his country and Nigeria.

    The Chairman of NAOC, Mr. Ciro Antonio Pagano with his Vice, Massimo Insulla in their respective remarks spoke on the impact of GRPin the four stakeholder  states.

    They also spoke about the potential of the Project becoming a pivot for the development of the agric sector in Nigeria as it will serve as a major platform for knowledge sharing among farmers, academia, public extension services and agro allied industry.

  • India protests as NNPC holds N5.2b oil block cash for 9 years

    India protests as NNPC holds N5.2b oil block cash for 9 years

    There is the N5.2billion ($25m)  cash paid by an Indian firm for an oil block nine years ago? This is the puzzle security and anti-graft agencies have been trying to unravel since the Indian High Commission’s alleged failure to get back the money.

    Three former Group Managing Directors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and  three directors of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) are likely to be quizzed over the matter.

    Indian High Commissioner in Nigeria Ajjampur Ghanashyam said he could not secure an appointment to meet with the immediate past Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke on the refund and modalities for the crude oil supply.

    Investigation revealed that Oil and Natural Gas Corp-Mittal Energy Limited of India (OMEL) was one of the 12 firms in the controversial 2007 oil blocks bid round.

    The blocks were auctioned on May 12, 2007, about 19 days to the expiration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure.

    Ten of the firms won 12 oil blocks at a cost of about $228million.

    The  firms and amounts paid are: Essar Energy Exp and Prod(Block 226)—$18.5million; Monipulo(Block 231)—$17,999.980million; Conoil(Block 290:—$49,999,975million; Global Energy Coy Limited (Blocks 2009 and 2010)—$11,499,949million; Continental Oil(Block 2007)—$54, 999,982million; Sterline Globl Oil Res(Blocks 2005 and 2006)——$5,150,000million;  and Bayelsa Oil Coy(Block 240)—$5,599,949million.

    Others are Abbey Court/Coscharis (Block 293) $50,167,510million; Deltagate/ Petrodel (Block 258) $12,500,000million: and Sahara Energy (Block 228) —$2,500,000.

    OMEL was also given the Right of First Refusal on Block 250 in exchange for the execution of a feasibility study on a new railroad in the country.

    But OMEL’s bid did not sail through after payment of $25million in 2006 for the 2007 bid round.

    A top source, who spoke with our correspondent in confidence, said: “The Indian Government has raised issues over this $25million, relevant security and anti-graft agencies are looking into the complaint.

    “They have to screen records of payment of signature bonuses, where such revenue had been paid into and if it had been spent.

    “This will involve interacting with three ex-GMDs and three or four ex-Directors of DPR on what went wrong and the whereabouts of the said money.”

    Another  source however said: “I think the government might extend the probe beyond those in NNPC and DPR because signature bonuses are usually paid into Consolidated Revenue Account or what is described as CBN/AGF/FGN Account.

    “The DPR does not pay Signature Bonus into any other account other than those specified by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. What those at the Executive or ministerial or political authority level did with such bonuses, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari  has the right to know.

    “I know many things went wrong in the past. The accountability process in the oil sector was awkward.”

    Claiming that the $25m signature bonus was yet to be refunded, the Indian High Commissioner said: “They (ONGC-Mittal) were not the highest bidder and you cannot blame the government of Nigeria for it or the oil minister at that time for it.

    “It was an auction process, we were not bitter. What I raised objection to my interventions with the Nigerian government was that the last time the ONGC-Mittal asked for a  concession, they paid a signature bonus of $25 million. And that time, it was in 2006 and 2016 is approaching now and I am still writing, how many ambassadors must have come, tried and gone.

    “I am still trying to get back the $25 million. That is not fair enough. For 10 years, you cannot keep that money. What is the value of the $25 million today. This is what I questioned”.

    Asked if a formal request had been made, he said: “I have written three times to three GMDs of NNPC but the bonus has not been refunded.”

    Ghanashyam said the Indian government would require more transparency and elimination of intermediaries in the oil sector.

    He added: “Our relationship is very deep. So, we trust you. To us after the Middle East, normally we will trust someone we have been friends with for a long  time.  And there are some months we have bought oil from you than Saudi Arabia. Possibly because the quality of your oil is better, possibly because we have more trust in you than somebody else.

    “The question is if you keep on telling us to go and buy oil from spot market through agents, it is not something we are comfortable with it.

    “We don’t do it with any other  African or non-African oil producing country. We  buy directly from the government, we will like to do the same thing here.

    “We will like to avoid going through intermediaries. We will buy  from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and pay to your Treasury Single Account (TSA). That is the only way you will be comfortable.

    “I tried  meeting with Madam Diezani Alison-Madueke but I never got an appointment. But the last three GMDs of NNPC whom I  have seen know this. They know what India wants.

    “It is not that we are looking at it as a complaint. We want to streamline the system so that for future , we don’t have any anxiety.

    “We have one of the largest refineries in the world,  we need crude oil from everywhere. If you have to start thinking  of something  every week, every month for crude oil from Nigeria, then you will rather look elsewhere like Angola which is ready to give you two years commitment.

    “The price can be at that time the ruling market price. Nobody is saying that you must fix your price from the day of signing the agreement. But once you have the agreement, there is security of supply, there is stability of supply.”