The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has signed a Head of terms (HoT) agreement with China National Offshore Oil Corporation(CNOOC) and an indigenous oil production firm —South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPETRO).
A statement issued by the company said this is part of the efforts that have been undertaken towards resolving all the disputes stemming from Oil Mining Lease (OML) 130 Production Sharing Contract.
The NNPC had previously accused some of these oil firms of under-declaring crude exports for three years between 2011 and 2013.
? NEWS:
Today,@NNPCgroup signed a Head of Terms (HoT)with its partners CNOOC & SAPETRO,signifying a major milestone towards the resolution of all disputes related to Oil Mining Lease (OML)130 Production Sharing Contract.OML 130 consists of producing fields such as Akpo & Egina pic.twitter.com/VnLga9qmm9
— NNPC Group (@NNPCgroup) August 6, 2020
Specifically, the NNPC alleged that the likes of Shell, Total, Chevron, and Eni under-reported crude oil exports in their oil fields to the tune of 57 million barrels.
The NNPC even sought repayments valued at $12.7 billion from the oil companies, according to a suit filed before the Federal High Court in Lagos. The companies denied the accusations.
The new agreement is now expected to help resolve such disputes.
Even the NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari was quoted to have said the agreement is “a major milestone toward the resolution of all disputes.”
