Buhari Overides DPR, restores oil blocks to NNPC, Chinese Firm

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the restoration of the leases on OMLs 123, 124, 126, and 137 to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), which is in production sharing contract with Addax Petroleum, a company wholly owned by Government of the People’s Republic of China

The announcement was made in a statement signed by presidential spokesman Garba Shehu on Friday.

Recall that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) had in March revoked the four licenses due to the non-development of the assets by the petroleum company.

But Buhari, according to the statement, believes the restoration is in line with his government’s “commitment to the rule of law, fairness and enabling a stable business climate for investment.”

“This development reaffirms the commitment of President Buhari to the rule of law and sanctity of contracts,” the statement said.

“While directing the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR to retract the letter of revocation of the leases, the President also directed NNPC to use contractual provisions to resolve issues in line with the extant provisions of the Production Sharing Contract arrangement between NNPC and Addax.

“The restoration of the blocks to NNPC will boost the organisation’s portfolio, making the Corporation to, in the long run, boost its crude oil production and in turn increase the revenue it generates to the Federation Account.” The statement read.

An Oil Mining Lease (“OML”) is a lease granted by the government to search for, win, work, carry away and dispose of crude oil.