The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has cautioned contractors and other stakeholders in the oil and gas industry against falling victims to phantom contract proposals by fraudsters.
This is contained in a statement issued by NNPC’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr Ohi Alegbe, on Monday in Abuja.
The statement alerted the public on alleged circulation of fake letters of authorisation by one Messrs Lavi International Corp, purportedly from the NNPC, to buy or sell Nigerian crude oil.
It called on members of the public to be wary of persons with fraudulent intents circulating letters authorising the lifting of Bonny Light crude oil from Nigeria.
It said that NNPC never authorised the said company neither was the firm one of its crude oil off-takers for the 2014-2015 Term Contract Period.
According to the statement, the corporation has not allocated any crude oil volume as speculated in the fake letter of authorisation.
It further noted that the list of local and international companies duly approved as NNPC’s crude oil off-takers for the 2014-2015 Term Contract Period had been widely publicised.
It called on member of the public to avail themselves of such information to avoid being duped by unscrupulous elements.
“Meanwhile, we are working closely with relevant security agencies to track and bring to book all those behind these nefarious activities,” it stated.
