LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigeria is suing several leading oil companies for $12.7 billion of crude oil that allegedly was exported illegally to the United States between 2011 and 2014, officials said Tuesday.

The Federal High Court in Lagos begins hearings next week in cases filed against Nigerian subsidiaries of U.S. multinational Chevron, British-Dutch Shell, Italian ENI’s Agip, France’s Total and Brasoil of Brazilian Petrobas, according to the court register.

Chevron would not comment since the issue “is the subject of ongoing litigation,” said a spokeswoman at the company’s Houston headquarters, Isabel Ordonez. Other companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Nigeria was Africa’s largest oil producer until militant attacks cut production and Angola overtook it in March.

The cases could provoke new anger against oil companies already accused of polluting farmland and fishing grounds. Local frustration has contributed to an armed movement in the oil-producing Niger Delta, where militants are demanding the multinationals pull out.

Officials familiar with the cases said Nigeria’s government alleges that the companies did not declare more than 57 million barrels of crude oil shipments. That was deduced from audits of declared exports and what was unloaded in the United States.

Some shiploads registered less when they left Nigeria and more on reaching the United States, while some entire shiploads were undeclared in Nigeria, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the cases still are in court.

The United States was the biggest importer of Nigerian oil until it began exploiting its own shale oil reserves, though Nigerian exports to the U.S. have increased six-fold this year, according to OPEC.

Michael Kanko confirmed that his U.S.-based ImportGenius database was used by attorneys to confirm declarations made to U.S. customs by shippers and importers.

Law professor Fabian Ajogwu is representing the Nigerian government in the case against Chevron, which comes up first on Sept. 30.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/nigeria-sues-oil-companies-for-127b-in-illegal-exports/2016/09/20/57099bc6-7f3f-11e6-ad0e-ab0d12c779b1_story.html

Cc: lalasticlala

I am sure $6b of the $12b came back into the hands of the Nigerian involved as egúnjè. Very soon they will reach out to media houses and paid e-agents to help distort public opinion in their favour.
Welcome to Nigeria.

http://leadership.ng/news/435868/non-metering-how-nigeria-lost-n4-25trn-oil-money

Non-Metering: How Nigeria Lost N4.25trn Oil Money
As the riddle of the missing $20bn oil money is yet to be solved, fresh facts from the nation’s oil and gas sector have indicated that a whopping N4.2tr ($25bn) may have been lost from oil terminals due to lack of metering facilities in all oil terminals in the country.

LEADERSHIP investigations last week revealed that operational losses since 2012 when the minister of trade and investment, Olusegun Aganga, moved to review the procedures for the issuance of export permits in the oil and gas sector amounted to $7.5bn (N1.5tr) annually, aside the over N400bn that a Senate panel reported that year.
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Aganga, in a memorandum to President Goodluck Jonathan on August 26, 2011, entitled “Memorandum on Weight and Measurement (Legal Metrology) Service Fee Order 2010 as provided in Measures Act cap 467 LFN 1990 (now Cap W3 LFN, 2004),” proposed that the lack of legal metrology in the nation’s oil terminals was making the country lose a minimum of N30bn annually because “it does not have the equipment and personnel to discharge these functions.” He, therefore, sought to outsource the operations.

The minister justified this by saying, “It requires no government funds. It would earn revenue for government and it conforms to international best practices and the WTO (World Trade Organisation’s) requirements.”

In his approval, Jonathan wrote: “HM, T &I, approved but brief FEC” on the same day (August 26, 2011).

Consequently, a company was engaged but our sources said “though the intention was noble and the president did his bit, from 1999 when Obasanjo (President Olusegun) gave approval for metering of oil terminals, it didn’t take off until Jonathan enforced it.”

However, it did not work.

“The operators, DPR, NNPC and the oil majors, ensured that only sighting continued instead of the on-line monitoring system that the company emplaced. The company was chased away after two weeks and up until now, it is the old ways that has persisted.

“At the beginning, it was discovered that Nigeria was losing $5.35bn due to non-metering of oil wells and inaccurate ship-to-shore differences while loading and off-loading of vessels. Data currently supplied by government-appointed pre-shipment inspection agents cannot be relied upon for proper reconciliation of oil revenues from oil and gas.

“Several billions is lost annually to round-tripping and fictitious claims by oil marketers due to poor measuring equipment,” the report from the inspectors said.

Okay



if they pull this off




then anything is possible




I no wan talk negative talk I jus tire

In recession, it's either you get sense or get wrecked

lawyers are having a field day since the inception of this administration. Everything you hear is court and bail and injunction. Na so one lawyer like that put claim wey be allocation of a state as his service fees. What we need is pure fiscal and monetary policies. All these looking for quick money by fines and levy will not only waste the little money the government has left but scare investors away

Lol

I was wondering how the US stopped importing Naija oil but kept their supply and pump prices at a normalized rate. Now we know it's because they were getting free oil. I try not to talk about the past regime but $12 billion isn't exactly peanut money. 57 million barrels? THAT'S MADNESS! Seriously, what didn't happen under the watch of the Otuoke Oga Boss?

This type of thing is not new. It has been happening and is still happening everyday. In fact, as i type, it is happening. Some Nigerians are the most useless set of people on earth; they are economic saboteur.


I started hating this country the more when a former course mate, working for ExxonMobil, told me that almost all the IOCs in Nigeria in collaboration with some powerful corrupt NNPC, DPR officials and other govt agents station at export terminal short-changed the country of hundreds of millions of dollars daily by giving false figures of our cargo export. He said when they say we export let say 1.5 million or 2 million barrels daily, from his experience, it is always far more than that.

This country is by far the most corrupt country in the world

LoveMachine:
I was wondering how the US stopped importing Naija oil but kept their supply and pump prices at a normalized rate. Now we know it's because they were getting free oil. I try not to talk about the past regime but $12 billion isn't exactly peanut money. 57 million barrels? THAT'S MADNESS! Seriously, what didn't happen under the watch of the Otuoke Oga Boss?

oga forget about under whose watch, even during Abacha regime the west hated, they still stole our oil without Abacha knowing. Under this current Buhari regime, it is still happening. Go to export terminal... You won't understant sha. Don't think it's about a particular regime but about some nigerians who connive with the west to steal our collective wealth. Even GEJ at some point traveled to the west to complain about this

Lol. baba dvllardinho has officially gone nuts.

It's still happening today

id911:



oga forget about under whose watch, even during Abacha regime the west hated, they still stole our oil without Abacha knowing. Under this current Buhari regime, it is still happening. Go to export terminal... You won't understant sha. Don't think it's about a particular regime but about some nigerians who connive with the west to steal our collective wealth. Even GEJ at some point traveled to the west to complain about this

My brother I don tire!

LoveMachine:


My brother I don tire!

It is well

The corruption at our export terminals are one of a kind....presently as we speak it's still the norm....strong men get a whole lot of share from the runs...

These are reasons why the Niger delta boys just go into bunkery. .....

All under the watch of the ineffectual Buffoon

then i was in the university as a geology and mining student...

our hod a professor who at d time was a consultant with shell... said thr is no way government can determine the actual amount of crude exported. the oil companies make greater chunk of the money. wat the throw at the government is wat they see...

Nairadays:


It is well

From your lips to the almighty's ears.

Just watching