- A ban on 113 oil tankers by Nigerian state oil company NNPC must be lifted immediately as no grounds have been given for the measure, the global oil tanker industry association said in a letter of protest.
- NNPC issued a letter on July 15, citing a directive from President Muhammadu Buhari, which said the vessels, mainly VLCC crude oil tankers, were banned from calling at Nigerian crude oil terminals and also from Nigerian waters with immediate effect.
- Industry association INTERTANKO, whose independent members own the majority of the world’s tanker fleet, said in a letter to NNPC, dated July 22, that there were no “evidence or grounds” given for the ban.
- Since taking office in May, Buhari has been working to fulfil a campaign promise to tackle corruption, particularly in the oil industry. He has dissolved the NNPC board and ordered an investigation into a scheme through which the country swaps crude for oil products such as gasoline.
- “The timing of the ban is clearly a political signal to show the Buhari administration is clamping down on oil theft,” said Alex Vines, head of the Africa Programme at Chatham House.
- “The challenge now is for the Nigerian authorities to provide credible proof that these indexed vessels were engaged in illicit activities.”
- A sample of 75 vessels on the list that Reuters tracked showed only around 14 had been to Nigeria or neighbouring countries in the last 180 days.
- Did the Government ban these Vessels to hoodwink the International Community that Buhari is already clamping down on the Oil Industry?
- Article was culled Reuters
