Nigeria Says Oil Firms Illegally Shipped Crude -- WSJ
October 03 2016 - 3:03AM
Dow Jones News
By Neanda Salvaterra in Washington, Sarah Kent in London and Gbenga Akingbule in Lagos
Nigeria's cash-strapped government is suing some of the world's
biggest oil companies on claims they were involved in illegally
exporting $12.7 billion of the country's crude to the U.S. between
2011 and 2014.
The allegations relate to shipments by companies including
Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Italian oil firm Eni SpA.
Chevron said the claims lack merit and that its Nigerian unit
complies with local law. Shell likewise said it adheres to Nigerian
law. Eni said the allegations are groundless.
Hearings on the case began in Nigeria on Friday.
In documents filed in a Nigerian court in March detailing cases
against the three, the Nigerian government claims those oil
companies and others failed to properly declare 57 million barrels
of crude they exported to the U.S. between 2011 and 2014.
The government "has suffered huge and enormous financial loss as
a result of the defendants' under-declaration of the value of the
crude oil they lifted and exported to the United States of
America," government lawyers wrote in a court filing.
The government is asking for nearly $407 million in lost revenue
from Shell and almost $463 million from Chevron, as well as 21%
interest a year from the companies until the purported lost revenue
is paid.
The suit comes amid a broader campaign by Nigeria to crack down
on perceived wrongdoing at companies operating there. Nigerian
President Muhummadu Buhari also has pledged to fight corruption in
the country, which is struggling through an economic crisis.
Last year, the government fined South African telecom giant MTN
Group Ltd. $5.2 billion, alleging that it missed a deadline to
deactivate more than five million unregistered SIM cards under
regulations meant to combat terrorism. The company eventually
agreed to pay a roughly $1.7 billion fine over three years. MTN
said its Nigerian unit would "always ensure full compliance with
its license terms and conditions as issued by Nigerian
Communication Commission," when it settled with the government in
June.
Now, the government says an investigation into declining revenue
from oil exports revealed a significant discrepancy between the
volumes of oil the companies delivered abroad and the export
volumes they declared to the state.
For instance, the government claims shipping records show Shell
docked a tanker named Authentic at the Port of Philadelphia in
January 2013. On board was nearly 1 million barrels of crude, at
the time worth almost $108 million, that the government says the
company failed to properly declare.
In total, the government claims Shell under-declared nearly 3.7
million barrels of crude that it delivered to the U.S. between 2011
and 2014, underpaying Nigeria almost $407 million.
The government claims Chevron under-declared 4.2 million barrels
of crude shipped to the U.S. worth almost $463 million.
Chevron said in an emailed statement on Friday that the
allegations lack "any merit whatsoever and we will vigorously
defend our rights. The operations of Chevron Nigeria Limited that
are the subject of this lawsuit, are in compliance with all
applicable laws and regulations in Nigeria."
Shell, in an email, said: "We continue to conduct our business
in Nigeria in compliance with all applicable laws."
Eni said its Nigerian subsidiary had received a request for a
payment of about $160 million last March, but said it "believes the
claim has no ground and shall resist in court."
Nigeria's federal high court in Lagos on Friday struck down an
effort by Chevron to get the case dismissed. Chevron claimed the
government case lacked reasonable cause.
"It is premature to dismiss the case at this stage," Justice
Cecilia Olatoregun said in a ruling. The case has been adjourned to
Oct. 25.
Nigeria's parliament has set up a committee to investigate oil
exports, claiming more than $3 billion of crude was also illegally
exported to China and nearly $840 million to Norway from 2011 to
2014.
"As of today, the country has to its credit over $17 billion of
recoverable shortfalls from undeclared crude oil exports to global
destinations," Representative Johnson Agbonayinma told Nigeria's
House of Representatives last week.
Nigeria's oil minister, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said he wants to
bring in external auditors to review the evidence of the case.
"Times are very difficult right now for the oil industry, and
this is not the time to rumple the water too much," Mr. Kachikwu
said in an interview outside of Washington, D.C., last week. "But
that's not to say that if people have in fact committed a crime
that you will not go after it to try and recover."
Until recently, Nigeria was Africa's largest oil producer, but
the country has been hit hard by the sharp drop in oil prices and
longstanding instability in its oil-rich south that has reduced its
output and helped push the economy into recession.
Write to Neanda Salvaterra at neanda.salvaterra@wsj.com and
Sarah Kent at sarah.kent@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 03, 2016 02:48 ET (06:48 GMT)
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