Nigeria LNG (NLNG) Ltd has denied a media report alleging that the company engaged in illegal or backdoor exportation of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) or any of its products.
Mr Andy Odeh, General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, NLNG, in a statement on Thursday said the report is ‘false and malicious’ and is calculated to ‘cast the company and its leadership in a bad light’.
According to the statement, it was not allowed to react to the allegations before the report was published.
”This explanation is necessitated by a report in the media that some top officials of the company were illegally shipping LNG to the U.S. and other South American countries,” the statement reads.
”Deliveries of LNG from Bonny Terminal complies with all regulatory requirements for the export of products.
”These are made under the various term and spot sales contracts to destinations not limited to Europe, the Far East, Greater Middle East, North America and South America,” the company said.
Odeh said:” NLNG is a responsible corporate citizen operating its business according to strong business principles and ethics in accordance with requirements of relevant Nigerian and global laws and regulations.
“From the start operations in October 1999, the NLNG has never, and does not, engage in illegal or backdoor exportation of LNG or any of its products, nor is NLNG involved in any international cartel, as alleged.
“It is simply not true that the illegal exportation is still ongoing with the backing of some players in NLNG.”
He said the LNG trade undertaken by the company is bound by strict protocols and controls, hence not amenable to the kind of illegitimate schemes alleged in the report.
Odeh said the company also had full accurate accounts of destinations, quantities loaded and unloaded and related earnings on each cargo, adding that these are demonstrable.
“For each of the past financial years, including the periods alluded to in the report, the Shareholders of NLNG, which includes NNPC and three International Oil Companies never reported that any cargo or product of the company was lost or unaccounted for.
”Indeed, the possibility of such happening is beyond comprehension.
“For the avoidance of doubt, NLNG restates that the report paints a very incorrect picture of the Company’s business and its LNG trade.
“It is at complete variance with the company’s vision as a globally competitive LNG company helping to build a better Nigeria,” he said.
