The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has awarded yearly crude oil lifting contracts worth about $40 billion to mostly Nigerian companies, and by so doing, downsizing contracts awarded to international oil traders. In a break with tradition, no contracts were given directly to foreign traders such as Glencore, Trafigura and Vitol, with only Switzerland’s Mercuria winning a contract, according to a list obtained by Reuters news agency. By this development, global traders need to partner with the local companies to access crude from Nigeria, Africa’s top producer. The crude lifting contracts cover around 340 million barrels of oil, worth close to $40 billion annually based on current Brent prices, and run for a year, though they can be renewed. They were allocated to just 28 companies, as against about 50 in 2012. The list, released by the NNPC, according to the newswire is preliminary and subject to revision. A […]