Leaked documents and extensive interviews with sources have unveiled how Africa’s biggest oil-producing country has been importing substandard petroleum products from Malta, a country with no known oil refineries.

The confidential files, obtained by BusinessDay, detailed a complex scheme involving the importation of low-quality petroleum petrol from Russia to Malta for blending before being shipped to Nigeria.

One of the leaked documents suggests Matrix Energy, a company with both upstream and downstream operations has been importing blended low-grade petroleum products with higher-quality fuel before distributing it to the Nigerian market.

Findings showed Matrix Energy owned a 150 million litre capacity depot in Warri (Bluefin Depot), three old ships (Matrix Pride, Matrix Triumph, Matrix S.ILU), and about 600 trucks.

“They are very active in the import of Russian products through various blending locations,” a senior source involved in the shipping business told BusinessDay.

Shipping tracking data seen by BusinessDay showed the loading of off-spec (bad fuel) products by matrix vessels such as vessel ‘MT Kallos’ from a ship that just arrived from Novorossiysk, Russia on 26 May 2024.

“The scale of this is alarming! First of all, Russia was excommunicated from the swift global banking framework of nearly 12,000 banks — which means Russian banks cannot open letter of credit for exports, which makes any oil and gas transaction between Nigerian companies and Russian refineries illegal,” Kelvin Emmanuel, energy expert and co-founder and CEO of Dairy Hills said.

Shipping data showed 15,0000 tons of petroleum products were transloaded into the vessel “Matrix Triumph” on 16th June which was thereafter discharged into Matrix Jetty in Warri on 21st June.

“Diesel from Russia is typically offspec and is often corrected in places like Lome and Malta by blending with other components. In this case, there was no correction done as the vessel immediately transloaded into Matrix ships immediately upon arrival at offshore Lome on 16 June,” another source said.

“They are selling flammable diesel with toxic fumes to Nigerians while pocketing huge profits,” he added said.

This import of bad diesel by Matrix was confirmed during the visit of the House of Reps to the Dangote Refinery on July 20 2024 when they bought and tested diesel from Matrix filling stations and found the sulphur levels to be above 2,653ppm against a requirement level of 50 ppm.

During the visit, Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote Group said diesel bought from TotalEnergies and Matrix filling station and that from his refinery were tested at the refinery’s laboratories.

Dangote said the test was carried out using an Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (ED-XRF) Spectro Photometer, using the ASTM D4294 method.

ASTM D4294 test method provides rapid and precise measurement of total sulfur in petroleum and petroleum products with a minimum of sample preparation. A typical analysis time is 1 min to 5 min per sample.

He said the diesel was bought in the presence of the lawmakers.

“Our quality is about 600 to 650 ppm and is one of the best in terms of quality at that time when we started. But as of today, we’re at 87 ppm,” he said.

“The sample from TotalEnergies’s diesel showed 1,829ppm sulphur concentration. The sample from Matrix Retail showed 2,653ppm,” Dangote told the lawmakers last July.

Matrix Energy

Matrix Energy Group is owned by Abdulkabir Aliu who is also the CEO of the company.

At the helm at Matrix Energy Group is Abdulkabir Aliu, serving as the group managing director. The team comprises key figures like Luqman Salam-Alada, executive director downstream, and Aisha Said-Aliu, group head, business development and strategy.

Other notable members include Oluwatoyin Showunmi, executive director -retail, Olabisi Sogunro, group head, support services, and Olajide Aogo, managing director of Matrix Fertilizer.

He is a member of the Presidential Economic Coordination Council (PEEC), an elite body of eminent Nigerians mandated to come up with sustainable ideas to bolster the nation’s economic governance framework and ensure robust and coordinated economic planning and implementation.

Emmanuel said, “The test that was done that shows some companies have sulphur level above 2,000 parts per million for diesel corroborates with the fact that you’ve off-spec adulterated diesel routed from refineries in Russia, that is corrected at blending plants in Malta and Lome.”

“This is grounds for the President to immediately sanction the regulators responsible for policing the midstream and downstream sector, and also take action concerning the leadership of the Oil and Gas sector in Nigeria,” Emmanuel said.

Leaked vessel arrival ullage report from the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) showed Pinnacle Oil and Gas FZE terminal received petroleum products from Malta.

Peter Mbah, the current governor of Enugu state is the CEO of Pinnacle Energy.

Sources close to the matter confirmed that the refined petroleum products weren’t for Pinnacle Energy but NNPC Retail. However, the terminals of the former were used to receive refined petroleum products from Malta.

“The product was for an NNPC retail. And it comes from NNPC trading and NNPC trading buys from trading companies. Matrix Energy is one of the trading companies.

“In addition to having their own terminal and their own retail outlets and so on. They are one of the importers,” one of the sources said.

BusinessDay’s investigation revealed that this is the first time the terminal would be used to bring in cargo from Malta.

25% of Nigeria’s petrol consumption

BusinessDay’s findings showed in July 2024 over 200,000 tons products of gasoline from Malta was allegedly discharged into a Jetty owned by Matrix Energy.

“This represents about 25 percent of Nigeria’s monthly PMS consumption going to a relatively small player with only 150 retail stations,” a leaked document said.

Leaked shipping documents showed the vessel “Twinkle Star” loads from St. Petersburg, Russia on 20th March and transloads into the vessel “Northernlight” at Malta on 22nd May which then proceeded to Lagos.

The vessel “Matrix Triumph” then loads from Northernlight in Lagos and then discharges into a depot in Warri.

Findings showed this importation was done through intermediate ships and sometimes through intermediate companies like Poly Pro Trading registered in Dubai Free Trade.

BusinessDay findings showed Malta is now the top European destination for blending and ship-to-ship (STS) transfers of sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products ever since the Greek navy decided to stop such activities in their offshore zone.

Data from Kpler, a global trade intelligence platform showed from May 1 to August 1 2024 there were 122 STS transfers recorded in various regions. The Malta lightering area accounted for the majority, with 44 percent of transfers, followed by Augusta in Sicily (Italy) with 11 transfers (9%), and Lome in Togo with nine transfers (7%).

“This lower-quality spec is then transhipped into various vessels for delivery into Nigeria to be sold to an unsuspecting public who suffer frequent vehicle and equipment breakdowns Zone,” leaked document said.

Emmanuel said, “The test that was done that shows some companies have sulphur level above 2,000 parts per million for diesel corroborates with the fact that you’ve off-spec adulterated diesel routed from refineries in Russia, that is corrected at blending plants in Malta and Lome.”

“This is grounds for the President to immediately sanction the regulators responsible for policing the midstream and downstream sector, and also take action concerning the leadership of the Oil and Gas sector in Nigeria,” Emmanuel said.

Dirty fuel reduces life expectancy

A report by Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN), a non-governmental not-for-profit organization said It appears to be easy for sub-standard fuel imports to enter Nigeria, “so it is probable that large volumes of fuel consumed are of poor quality, causing significant damage to public health, engines, and the environment”.

“This contributes to air quality levels that cut life expectancy by 4.7 years in the Niger Delta, the worst hit area across the African continent,” SDN said in its report.

In 2020, SDN’s research sampled official petrol imports and found average sulphur levels more than seven times the legal limit, average diesel samples more than 43 times the limit, and a few with excessive levels of other toxins.

“The weakness in regulating fuel quality poses a serious health risk to those living in Nigeria. International commodity traders and Nigerian marketers are exploiting the lack of regulation to import these low-quality fuels, and improved standards and regulatory enforcement are urgently needed,” SDN said.

Credit: Business Day