Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, says the era of discretionary sale of crude oil by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is now a thing of history.

Dr Kachikwu warned Chinese businessmen seeking clarifications at the Nigerian Embassy in Beijing about offers for sale of crude oil from Nigeria, that such offers are scam.

The Minister spoke at a reception organised by officials of the Nigerian Embassy in Beijing.

The forum provided an opportunity for officials of the embassy to seek clarification about the sale of crude oil in Nigeria following enquiries from Chinese businessmen who got fraudulent offers from Nigeria

He explained that only 11 companies were approved to lift crude oil from Nigeria following an open bid process and that the next bids will hold in April 2017.

He said that the use of discretion in the sale of crude oil by previous administrations led to corruption in country’s oil industry.

The minister said that Nigeria is also investigating reported discovery of Nigeria’s stolen oil in China and appealed to Chinese businessmen who buy stolen oil to stop the practice because it encourages vandalism and militancy in Nigeria.

The meeting was one of the activities on the NNPC roadshow in China to seek investment for the repair and expansion of infrastructure in the nation’s oil industry.

Over 50 billion dollars memorandum of understanding for investment in the oil industry has been signed. One of the agreements is with China’s leading oil company, Sinopec

The Minister and his officials also signed an agreement with China’s largest securities and assets management company, Cinda Group

The company specialises in providing financial lifelines for big companies in the country

The roadshow for investment in the oil sector is also scheduled for India and gulf countries.

•Sourced from Channels TV. Photo shows Kachikwu.