Taleveras, Africa’s leading most active supplier of refined petroleum
product in and out of the continent, said it is sadden by the possible
negative impact of recent media misrepresentation of figures against it,
could have on the Structuring Finance for Petroleum Product Supply into
Nigeria.
This is coming on the heels of wrong media interpretation of the
earlier report of Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative
(NEITI) that wrongly listed 152,308,878 litres of Gasoline, instead of
52, 308, 878. 00 USD monetary value, which was subsequently clarified by
NEITI.
In a statement, Mr Leonard Kwentua a Senior Trading and Supply Executive
of Taleveras Petroleum said that International Financial Institutions are
very Sensitive to Sensational Media Reports and most recently these
inaccurate Reports do more harm than good in Structuring Finance for
Petroleum Product Supply into Nigeria, which can lead to supply
disruptions.
A Nigerian Daily had on March 25, 2014 wrongly listed 152,308,878 litres
instead of 52,308, 878.00 USD value against Taleveras in the Crude Oil
Swap Arrangement.
But after verification of the NEITI report made available to the press,
the NEITI report had listed 52,308,878.00 in USD Value and not 152, 308,
878 litres as grossly misinterpreted in the Press.
Subsequently, NEITI has refuted an earlier report of USD 8 billion loss.
NEITI’s Director of Communication, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, while denying
the $8 billion loss states:
“The media report from that presentation attributed to NEITI that the
nation losses $8 billion annually through crude oil Swap. This is not only
wrong but misleading. What NEITI presented and explained at that hearing
was that there is no cost efficiency in the transactions with the offshore
processing organisations.”
Mr Leonard Kwentua maintained that “Taleveras supply of Gasoline under the
swap arrangement are on- going activities and accounts are reconciled
quarterly to determine what is oversupplied or under supplied”.
According to the statement, “This Barter Arrangement is a major factor
responsible for the sustainability of supply and availability of Gasoline
across Nigeria. International Financial Institutions are very Sensitive to
Sensational Media Reports and most recently these inaccurate Reports do
more harm than good in Structuring Finance for Petroleum Product Supply
into Nigeria”.
The firm noted that “Furthermore, It is on record that Taleveras is one of
the most active supplier of Refined Petroleum Products in and out of
Africa as a whole and in particular PPMC under the Duke/Taleveras
arrangement, we are often than not, used as a Performance Example”.
Mr Leonard Kwentua added that “Secondly, for the Swap Transaction, there
is an underlying security in form of a standby letter of credit in Favour
of PPMC, so if you don’t deliver the products, PPMC are in a position to
cash any defaulter’s Letter of Credit, these letters of credits are issued
in favour of PPMC by first Class Banks and must be Bank Confirmed Prior to
an Offtake of the Crude, so in essence NO Letter of Credit , NO Lifting of
Crude”.
“As an Example: NEITI report showing 2011 under delivery of about USD 52
Million in their Table, does not reflect the actual sum, as Inventory
warehousing cost is not applied to this figure. Balance on account of this
on- going term deal is fully secured, at all times, due to the fact there
is an underlying security, always in place, by way of an active Bank
issued letter of credit, which in this instance stood at 200 Mil USD in
favour of PPMC during the period stated. As at December 2013, the Balance
on account shows Taleveras has over supplied in its Delivery obligations,
subject to reconciliation with PPMC”, he stated.
He insisted that “There has always been an issue when Indigenous Companies
are empowered or encourage to partake in a business that has had
International Dominance for several Years, these Swaps and Offshore
Processing Arrangements have been done in Nigeria Many Years ago and
dominated by International Oil Companies, in more Recent Times, we have
seen British Petroleum Plc, Operate through a Subsidiary an Offshore
Processing Agreement in Nigeria with NNPC/PPMC, there was never any
backlash as we have seen now, Nigerian Companies should be encouraged as
we Strengthen Our Economy by the size these activities bring to our
Balance sheet, which in turn gives us an opportunity to enlist the
confidence of Local and International Financial institutions, as we strive
to Diversify our portfolios to other sectors of the economy, that needs
development, this undoubtedly leads to More Employment opportunities for
Nigerians. Never before have we seen the Growth of Nigerian Companies in
the Oil and Gas Sector in Africa, where business activities are
increasingly done under International Best Practice. Taleveras has nowhere
to go this is Our Country”.
Taleveras, Mr Kwentua noted, “is made up of Young Enterprising Nigerians,
the Journey for us spans over 13 Years of active and gradual growth,
conducting our various Business activities Diligently and Professionally,
we employ a great number of Skilled and Unskilled Dynamic Nigerians, we
have Built a strong Brand that has attracted serious International
Recognition doing Business in Various parts of the world and with Top
Class Counterparts, so we Take our Reputation and Perceptions Seriously”.