In what appears to be developing into a regular pattern, petroleum industry regulators are at dispute with Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) Unlimited, a local affiliate of ExxonMobil in Nigeria, over commodity accounting gaps at operated Bonny River Terminal.

Whereas the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) alleges that the American oil major was taking commodity from the export terminal, the operating company insists that the offtake followed due process.

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The Authority Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, declared the actions of the operating company “constitute economic sabotage, criminal damage and theft of Nigeria’s national resources.”

Agency sources reported Saturday that the NMDPRA accused MPN of illegal lifting of petroleum products from an offshore terminal in a letter of complaint to the petroleum ministry dated June 8.

The Oracle Today could not independently verify the reported letter and attempts to reach spokesmen of both the authority and the company were not successful as they could not be reached.

NMDPRA is quoted as stating in the letter that a shipping vessel, Barumk Gas, was lifting butane from the ExxonMobil-controlled Bonny River Terminal without its “authorization or participation.”

“The actions of ExxonMobil and Barumk Gas constitute economic sabotage, criminal damage and theft of Nigeria’s national resources,” NMDPRA Chief Executive Farouk Ahmed said in the letter dated June 8.

Under the operating terms that govern activities in the industry, a multi-party inspection is required before commodities are lifted from the nation’s export terminals, but there have been recent developments in which breaches of the provision have given rise to allegations of stealing.

In November last year, a Nigerian court charged 26 men with conspiracy to commit a maritime offence and attempting to illegally deal in crude oil after authorities accused their supertanker of sailing in Nigerian waters without authority.

Some of the patries of the government required to sign off on any offtake from the terminals include the NNPC Limited, Nigerian Customs Service, Federal Inland Revenue Service and any relevant of either NMDPRA of the sister Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).  

The NMDPRA demanded from the ministry that ExxonMobil’s offtake vessel at the Bonny River Terminal (BRT) be detained.

Exxon denied the accusation, saying in an emailed response that its “operations are carried out in full compliance with the law”.