The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is relocating its oil trading subsidiary to Dubai from London, United Kingdom, according to reports.
Some unnamed sources reportedly revealed that the change of territory is driven by a need to get closer to its main buyers in Asia.
The move was also brought on by the intent to cut down on taxes.
Duke Oil Services, the London arm of the Panamanian registered firm, said in a filing made to the UK’s company house that it would wind down operations in the second quarter of 2019 and move to an unspecified location.
The fully owned NNPC subsidiary, which was established in the 1980s to help sell Nigeria’s petroleum, had been based in London’s Hammersmith neighbourhood, which houses NNPC’s UK office as well.
The choice of Dubai comes as the United States began pumping 12m barrels of oil per day, claiming Nigeria’s markets in Europe and competing with the West African producer in Asia as well.
While the US spent six years developing the capacity to produce at the same level with Saudi Arabia, Nigeria has for a long time hovered around the 1.7 to 2m barrels per day threshold.
The country has also failed to add to its reserves within the same period the US took over its market share and stopped importing from the country.
According to Reuters, India is Nigeria’s new bride and Asian refineries are buying Nigeria’s oil and swapping it for the much needed petrol the country’s refineries are unable to produce.
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