The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday raised an alarm over the circulation of fake letters of authorisation purportedly from the NNPC to buy or sell Nigerian crude oil.

The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of NNPC, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, in a statement, 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.

Alegbe pointed out that a paragraph in one of the fake letters of authorisation in circulation, which is from Lavi International Corp, claimed that NNPC had entered into contractual arrangements directly with the company “to supply Bonny Light Crude Oil to the Lavi International Corp Associated Refineries and or Global Traders, and that the Lavi International Corp has the power and authority to sell or otherwise deal with the Bonny Light Crude Oil, the subject of those contractual agreements.”

While refuting such claims, NNPC’s Group General Manager for Group Public Affairs stated: “Messrs Lavi International Corp is not one of its crude oil off-takers for the 2014-2015 Term Contract Period and, therefore, has not been allocated any crude oil volume as speculated in the fake letter of authorization.”

Alegbe 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 has been widely publicized and called on 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,” he stated.

The Federal Government, in April this year, awarded a total of 43 companies, mostly indigenous firms, the licence to lift Nigerian crude oil in 2014 and 2015, as against the 50 contracts given out by the state oil company in 2012.

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, had explained that the contract awards to indigenous companies to lift crude oil were to encourage effective local participation in the industry.

She said the decision was a deliberate policy of the Federal Government to encourage Nigerians to participate in the oil and gas sector of the economy.

Information gathered revealed that the contract had been expanded to about $52 billion worth of crude oil, from $40 billion in the April list.