Currently the number one purchaser of Nigerian crude oil, India spends about $15bn a year in Nigerian petroleum as the two countries engage in commerce on a daily basis. According to Ambassador Ghanashyam, one of the dubious practices engaged in during the tenure of Ms Allison-Madueke involved selling crude to India through intermediaries, thus denying Nigeria’s treasury of the full proceeds of such sales.
Commission agents creamed away some of the billions of such purchases when Nigeria’s treasury ought to have enjoyed the full benefits. Apparently, Nigeria is the only oil producing nation selling its oil this way as other nations make the sale on a country-to-country basis.
Ambassador Ghanashyam said: “From other countries, when we buy oil, whatever we want to pay, we pay to the ministry of finance of that country, while in Nigeria, we pay to intermediaries. We would like to be dealing directly with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as it is not a good thing and I ask why should we go through intermediaries?
“Secondly, we would also like to have long term agreement, which we have with many countries including Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia from where we buy oil. Nigeria is the only country with whom we don’t have an agreement and when we write letters to the NNPC, we don’t get a response.”
According to the NNPC 2014 Annual Statistical Bulletin, India bought 136,419,844 barrels of crude oil from Nigeria that year. India's high commissioner added that apart from the lack of long-term agreement between the two countries on crude oil purchases, several Indian companies have paid for oil concessions and not been granted them and had not had their money returned.
He added that in 2006, an Indian company, Oil & Natural Gas Commission Videsh (OVL) and Mittal Energy International, which is a joint venture between OVL, an Indian government company, and Mittal Energy a private firm, applied for an oil concession. As part of the deal, the signature bonus sum of $25m was paid but neither was the oil concession granted nor the money paid returned to the Indian companies.
Ambassador Ghanashyam asked: “How many years is it? Nine years. Even to get the concession is not possible and the money is not refunded to us.
"For nine years your country has been sitting on this and they make us go round and round and round. We buy $15bn worth of crude oil per year and we have the potential of importing $50bn worth of crude oil from Nigeria, as we can buy more because our requirement is going up."
He added, however, that if Nigeria continues to make India pay through agents and buy from the swap market, it means she does not trust her partner. According to the ambassador, if Nigeria dies not trust India, the Asian giant will have to look for those who trust it more.
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