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Nigerian Crude Oil Sale Fraud: Authentication of Crude Allocation and Oil Buyers Documents

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HOW CAN YOU ENSURE THAT A NIGERIAN CRUDE SELLER’S ASSIGNMENT OR DOCUMENT IS AUTHENTIC OR AUTHENTIC?

This observation from the research report on the subject, conducted by Africans in America News Watch, a non-profit organization based in New York, in August 2010, summarizes the question:

“There are many sellers of genuine crude oil in Nigeria, but the problem is getting the real and verifiable ones. The crude oil trade is a flourishing and prosperous business and many people seem to want to get into it. Buyers from other countries get in touch. with sellers in Nigeria in to buy Nigerian crude oil. [But the business is now full of]… scammers on the prowl. “He adds that” There are many sellers of crude oil in Nigeria, but the challenge is the ability to find genuine and verifiable sellers. “

In fact, as this author has extensively documented in another study, the claim that in today’s arcane world of international crude oil buying and selling the landscape is literally littered and riddled with scammers and con artists, is now a well-established one. Well-established truth about which there can hardly be serious discussions or disputes in the contemporary international oil buying and selling industry.

Consequently, given the stark REALITY that “there are a lot of genuine crude oil sellers in Nigeria, but the problem is getting the real and verifiable ones,” the big million dollar question is this: AS A BUYER OF CRUDE, THEN YOU CAN GET THOSE SELLERS OF ALL, WHO ARE THE “REAL AND VERIFIABLE”?

THE KEY? Most experts, in the case of Nigeria, say that basically you (the ordinary buyer) would have to demand and insist that the alleged Seller show you AUTHENTIC documentation and other proof of having a genuine allocation of BLCO and FLCO from the Nigerian NNPC as well as proof that this product is still available today. (For Nigeria, the NNPC, which stands for the National Petroleum Corporation of Nigeria, is a federal government company that manages the buying and selling of oil, including allocation to the actual sellers of crude oil in Nigeria.)

KEY DOCUMENTS IN THE NIGERIAN CRUDE OIL PURCHASE / SALE INDUSTRY

There are some key documents that are crucial in purchasing Nigerian crude oil transactions. They will include the following documents, among others:

– Seller’s shipping documents, such as: Clean Ocean bill of lading; Seller’s Commercial Invoice

– Proof of the seller’s product (it will include the License to export and the Approval to export, issued by the government of the country, declaration of product availability, Port storage agreement, etc.)

– SGS / Sayboat quality and quantity certificate issued at the loading port

– Certificate of origin issued by the NNPC

– Certificate of authenticity issued by the NNPC

– Ship charter agreement, issued to the charterer of the ship and presumably showing that the ship is actually chartered in the name of the designated seller.

– the Q88 questionnaire, completed by the ship’s managers, providing the relevant information and ship specifications;

– Etc.

PRODUCT TESTING

Probably the most important document of all that an ordinary buyer may need to see from the seller is the appropriate Proof of Product (POP). This document, which has to be issued by the relevant department of the NNPC in Abuja, Nigeria, serves as a clear indication to a crude oil buyer that the owner of the petroleum feedstock has true possession of the product and also serves as an indication. that, at least at the time of the transaction (but only then), the seller has the product available for sale.

IMPORTANT: However, it should not be just any form of POP. It must be one that is in a format that allows satisfactory verification to determine that it is valid and authentic. According to this author’s research, to ensure the optimal probability that this goal can be achieved, there are basically two types of POP documents that are acceptable, and no more, and only vendors whose POP documents meet POP document standards. ” Preferred “must to be entertained or catered for.

THE POP MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS.

TO). You must have the documents of the loaded boat that are CURRENT (that is, it must not be more than 2 days old, otherwise the document will be immediately rejected as it may mean that the boat is no longer available), and must include the following documents:

I. A current authority to board (ATB). The seller must provide, for the buyer’s inspection, the ATB that was specifically issued to the initial buyer (consignment) of the crude in whose name the vessel was issued. The name in the ATB must exactly match the name in the POP and other documents named here. And again, the ATB MUST BE UPDATED, that is, it must not be more than 2 days old. (An ATB that is more than 2 days old should automatically be considered a vessel that is no longer available and is therefore not acceptable.)

ii. Quality certificate.

iii. Certificate of origin

iv. Cargo manifest

v. Vessel vacuum report

saw. Quantity certificate.

vii. Bill of lading

viii. NNPC ATS (Authority to Sell)

B) SUPPLY THE VESSEL DATA.

Generally, the Buyer may require (and therefore the Seller must be willing and ready to release them), ship details such as the following: ship name, ship location, IMO name, call sign and other details of the boat. The reason this is necessary is so that the buyer can keep track of said loaded ship and determine its current availability.

C) PROVIDE THESE DOCUMENTS ALSO FROM THE NNPC

As in the case of POP that accredited buyer facilitation teams like Reliable Dealings International require from any AWR vendor before they can begin doing business with them, the other things that may often be required of a vendor would include the next:

= the NNPC Lease / Survey License, and

= the Authorization to Sell Letter (ATS) from the NNPC. The Letter of Authority to Sell, also called the Letter of Assignment, which should generally come from the NNPC Crude Oil Marketing Department, is basically the official document that shows the buyer that the seller actually has the authority from the official government agency to The crude. product you are selling. (Generally, it should be on paper format and on NNPC company letterhead; it should contain the issue date and expiration date, and it should be signed. Scanned copies of the document are fine. All documents must be certified , be valid, authentic and verifiable).

= If, for example, the seller claims that the cargo has been dispatched, then they should normally be able to provide the CPA (charter contract), ATL (loading authority), and Q88 vessel details.

OK, BUT HOW CAN YOU ENSURE THAT THESE DOCUMENTS ARE AUTHENTIC?

Okay, let’s say you’ve put together the proper Product Test and the other essential documents, like the ones outlined above. There is one key question, indeed a critical one, that you still have to ask: how do you ensure that these documents that you have received from the seller are even good ones? What are real, valid, AUTHENTIC and GENUINE to justify taking the Seller’s offer seriously?

This question is perhaps often the most critical for a buyer because, as a general rule, most scammers and con artists operating in the Nigerian crude oil industry are simply masterful forgers and copiers of all legitimate documents from the industry that are used. in purchase and sale operations by refineries and government agencies, and who are highly qualified in the trade. Consequently, buyers are strictly cautious never to accept directly at face value or be misled by any documents presented by sellers or claims made by them, however convincing or realistic in appearance! And what all of this means is that a crucial facility that a crude oil buyer and his helpers must quickly develop and have are some good, foolproof tools or skills by which they can INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY the authenticity of at least the key, the parts of most important documents among the tons of documents that sellers and their agents often present to them in the course of the street sale of their products. And above all, they must have the skills, knowledge and business sophistication to be able to detect which of those documents are genuine and legitimate and which may be simply false.

Certainly, performing such verification and confirmation can often be problematic for a buyer. However, it is not really such a difficult task, at least for the educated and experienced eyes. You just need to know what and what to look for, the right questions to ask, and how to counter fact and information verification and cross-checking. And in any case, whenever you have serious doubts about the authenticity of a document, you should always take the path of caution: ask for more evidence or even decline the offer, depending on the particular facts in question in an offer.

FOR FOLLOW-UP

DO YOU WANT TO FOLLOW HOW YOU CAN ENSURE THAT THE ASSIGNMENT OR DOCUMENT OF A NIGERIO CRUDE SELLER IS AUTHENTIC OR GENUINE?

Please see the instructional information in the author’s resource box below.

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