A Switzerland based energy firm, Philia SA actually saved Duke Oil, an affiliate of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) global embarrassment in the sale of Low Poor Fuel Oil (LPFO) and Naphtha allocations to the company by NNPC in 2016, facts have revealed.
There had been reports in a section of the media alleging that the Managing Director of Duke Oil Mr. Inuwa Waya, and The MD of Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) Mr. Farouk Ahmed through backdoor deals illegally sold Duke Oil’s LPFO and Naphtha to Philia Energy SA owned by one Mr. Ikenna Okoli, a Nigerian based in Switzerland.
However, recent checks revealed that Philia Energy SA entered into an agreement with Duke Oil to buy the LPFO and Naphtha allocated to the company by NNPC after other companies turned invitation by Duke Oil to buy the products.
A source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said when all other companies who were associated with marketing and purchase of Nigeria crude and associated products refused to buy the NNPC LPFO and Naphtha products allocated to Duke Oil, Philia Energy SA was invited to participate in the sale of the products to salvage the situation.
“We were at first skeptical that Philia Energy SA would be able to buy our allocation but when all companies in the sector including all the oil majors refused to buy the products, Philia Energy SA was given the go ahead to buy the Duke Oil allocation. All the companies we approached refused to participate in the bid because of the low margin of profit on the products,” a source in NNPC said
The source stated further that before Philia Energy SA was given the go ahead to buy Duke Oil’s allocation of the products, “due diligence was conducted on Philia Energy SA. And further investigations revealed that the company in question has been doing business in the oil and gas sector in Gabon and Congo. Vitol and all other companies trading with Duke Oil have conformed with international best practices.”
The source maintained that no personal or selfish interests was behind the sale of the LPFO and Naphtha to Philia Energy SA but “purely business. It would have been embarrassing if Duke Oil had not been able to sell the LPFO and Naphtha products. That would have sealed their fate as oil marketer with NNPC.
“In actual fact, the allocation was a trial for Duke Oil and if the company hadn’t been able to sell the allocation, that would have been the end of products allocation by NNPC.
“So anybody saying that the transactions were fraudulent has ulterior motives. There is no personal gains for Mr. Inuwa as previously alleged.”
Further checks revealed that at the end of the transactions, Duke Oil, which had not made any profit in the last seven years was able to get a revenue of over $2.1 Million from the sale of the products from the transactions.
