All offshore crude oil processing agreements and crude oil swap deals for refined petroleum products between the NNPC and oil traders around the world have been cancelled by President Buhari
Presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, has told Reuters News Agency on Tuesday that President Muhammadu Buhari has given approval for the immediate cancellation of the agreements.
This means that all offshore crude oil processing agreements and crude oil swap deals for refined petroleum products between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and oil traders around the world have been cancelled by the Federal Government.
The Presidential Transition Committee led by Ahmed Joda, had recommended to the Buhari administration to carry out a comprehensive audit of all Offshore Processing Agreements, (OPAs) and Crude Oil Swap deals entered by the NNPC.
The committee had said the audit would help government identify and claim any reimbursements for excess crude oil lifted under the controversial OPA and Swap arrangements to establish the quantity of products delivered based on a fair and transparent audit process.
"Mr. President has approved the cancellation of the oil swap contracts. Mr. President has publicly expressed his displeasure over this oil swap deal," Femi Adesina said in response to enquiries by Reuters.
The deals, initiated by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, were designed to supply petroleum products for crude oil refining to cushion the negative impact of continued reliance on imports domestic consumption.
A source close to the NNPC, who pleaded anonymity, said the cancellation affected contracts for more than half of the 445,000 barrels per day of crude normally allocated for domestic refining usually used under the products swaps deals.