Capital Oil debunks NNPC claims, calls for accounts reconciliation

Capital Oil and Gas has issued a rejoinder to counter the press statement issued by the Public Affairs Division, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) last week.
A rejoinder issue by the Management of Capital Oil and Gas reads, “Our attention has been drawn to a press release by the Public Affairs Department of the Nigerian National Petroleum corporation (NNPC) as well as some online publications alleging their inability to access over 100 million litres of petrol stored in our depot.

“NNPC has a subsisting contract with our company which is on throughput basis. The corporation has consistently been in breach and default of our contractual agreement by owing us money for services rendered. Payments from NNPC for services rendered by our company has consistently been delayed for periods spanning over one year and remains unpaid till date. Currently, NNPC owes us for services rendered to the corporation at very critical periods to salvage nationwide fuel scarcity since 2015 (more than two years now) amounting to millions of Dollars and billions of Naira.”

According to the company, “the corporation had failed to deliver products to us which were duly paid for. It is instructive to note, that Capital Oil and Gas had trucked out over 7 billion litres of petroleum products for the NNPC over the last few years making us their biggest partner in the downstream secretor of Nigeria’s Oil and gas industry.”

“We have written the NNPC severally, requesting for our outstanding payments and deliver of products duly paid for by us. Rather than honour our request, we are shocked that the Corporation had resorted to this needless campaign of calumny while refusing to make payments and deliver our products to us till date. We respect the fact that NNPC if our biggest partner in the downstream sector and we have always stood by the Corporation especially in times of national emergencies (product scarcity).

We have proudly rendered intervention services at all critical times in the life of our nation. It is on record that few months ago, when the same NNPC had s serious break in its supply chain and in a bid to avert an imminent national scarcity, Capital Oil & Gas Industries Limited lent the Corporation millions of product to close the gap.

“It is our sincere hope that the Corporation will respect our contract with them by paying all outstanding bills as well as deliver cargoes which have been duly paid for by us in order to end this situation which we view as a deliberate attempt to stifle and strangulate our business bearing in mind that despite their unfair and unfavourable treatment, we still manage to retain thousands of employees in this critical period of the nation’s economy were even banks and multinationals are retrenching.

“This act of strangulation has been reported by our company to the Nigerian Senate in a petition against the NNPC that read on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday, 8th of March 2017. A similar petition was also submitted to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as well as the Department of State Services (DSS).

As a responsible Corporate citizen, we look forward to the NNPC not only honoring the payment terms of our contract but to also deliver the parcel of cargo duly paid for by us and thereafter reconcile our accounts.
“We respectfully urge the NNPC to live up to its corporate responsibly, core values and respect the rights of her partners.