27 August 2015, Abuja – The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has terminated Offshore Processing Agreements, OPA, with associates of former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke.
One of them is, however, allowed to re-apply, under a “fair” arrangement now in place following the invitation for fresh bids by the corporation.
The OPAs were awarded to Aiteo Energy Resources Limited and Sahara Energy Resources (Nig) Limited in January 2015 after the discontinuation of the highly controversial crude swap agreement with foreign refineries.
Aiteo is owned by Benny Peters while Sahara was co-founded by Tonye Cole, who serves as the group CEO. Both were very close to the former petroleum minister and were among the most favoured for government patronage through out her tenure.
Duke Oil, a subsidiary of the NNPC which trades in crude, has also had its OPA cancelled.
– The Cable