Business
Nigeria fuel regulator suspends Swiss oil firm
(Reuters) – Swiss-based oil firm Nimex Petroleum has been suspended by Nigeria’s fuel regulator for failing to provide documents for shipments, the company said on Wednesday, a move that suggests that Nigeria may be taking steps to clamp down on subsidy graft estimated to have cost it billions of dollars.
The government department is one of several under fire for overseeing a scheme that paid out large sums in fraudulent subsidy claims for fuel that did not exist or was sold abroad.
The corrupt fuel subsidy scheme cost Nigeria US$6.8 billion between 2009-2011, according to a parliamentary probe that found damning evidence against the fuel regulator, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).
Nimex Petroleum confirmed PPPRA had suspended its activities in Nigeria in a letter dated May 3 over missing documentation relating to the delivery of two shipments of around 10,000-12,000 tonnes of gasoline.
At current spot market prices, the subsidy payment due for the shipments in question is worth around US$10 million.
Nigeria tried in vain to end gasoline subsidies in January, but a week of public protests forced the government to partially re-instate the payments, seen as a drain on its budget.
The proportion of the subsidy paid by the regulator remains substantial, accounting for around 40 percent of fuel delivered.
