The Nigerian National Petroleum Company NNPC Limited says the protracted dispute on Oil Mining Lease (OML) 123/124, 126/137, operated by Addax Petroleum Nigeria Limited, has been resolved amicably.
This was announced in a statement issued by the Chief Corporate Communication Officer NNPC ltd, Garba Deen Muhammad, in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
He said that “the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for the blocks was initially signed in 1973 between NNPC and Ashland and terminated after 25 years. Subsequently, NNPC signed another PSC with Addax in 1998 on the blocks and operated through Addax Petroleum for another 24yrs. In 2021, issues around the revocation of the licences were reconsidered and the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) advised that the assets be returned to the Concessionaires (NNPC Limited) to ensure clean and amicable exit for Addax”, he said.
According to him, “NNPC signed another Contract with Addax in 1998 on the blocks and operated through Addax Petroleum for another 24yrs”, he added.
According to Garba Deen, NNPC Limited commenced formal engagements with Addax and the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission in January 2022 which paved way for the preparation and signing of a Transfer, Settlement and Exit Agreement.
In his remarks at the close-out and signing ceremony, the NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, charged the Transition Management Team to “hit the ground running towards restoration and fulfilment of the promise of the Assets”.
He promised that readjustment will be swift and efficient, in order to extract optimum value from the assets and to deliver maximum value to shareholders.
