NLNG denies involvement in $1.2bn oil sleaze

BY MADUABUCHI EFEGADI

…says gas shipment, sales contracts follow regulation

Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) has refuted a media report linking it to a $1.2 billion oil sleaze involving certain Nigerian companies in collaboration with government officials.

The company described the report as false, malicious and deliberate, saying it was a rehash of fallacious claims earlier reported in January 2022, which it had responded to with facts.

NLNG, in a statement signed by Andy Odeh, its general manager, external relations and sustainable development, demanded an immediate retraction of the “false and malicious report in its entirety, in addition to an apology, which must be given as much prominence as the original report”.

The company said to set the records straight, “deliveries of LNG from its Bonny Terminal complies with all regulatory requirements for the export of its products and are made under various LNG sales contracts to destinations not limited to Europe, but also to the Far East, Greater Middle East, North America and South America, thus ensuring NLNG’s position as a significant competitive global LNG supplier, promoting the Nigerian Brand”.

NLNG described itself as a responsible corporate citizen operating its business according to strong business principles and ethics in accordance with requirements of relevant Nigerian and global laws and regulations.

The company said from the commencement of its operations in October 1999, it has never, and does not, engage in “illegal” exportation of LNG or any of its products, nor is it involved in any international cartel, as alleged. 

NLNG said the claim by the media reports that “the illegal exportation is still ongoing with the backing of some top officials of government” was simply not true as “the LNG trade undertaken by the Company is bound by strict protocols and controls, hence not amenable to the kind of illegitimate schemes alleged in the report”.

“Contrary to the allegation of export of LNG without paperwork, records exist for every single cargo of product loaded by the Company since it commenced operations, together with fully accurate accounts of destinations, quantities loaded and unloaded and related earnings on each cargo, and these are demonstrable,” NLNG said. 

“For each of the past financial years which are periodically audited, including the periods alluded to in the report, the shareholders of NLNG, which includes NNPC and three IOCs, never reported that any cargo or product of the Company was lost or unaccounted for. Indeed, the possibility of such happening is beyond comprehension,” it said.