NNPC signs contract extension with these 5 oil firms, targets $500bn earnings

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCLtd) has signed a contract extension with five oil majors, hoping to earn about $500 billion investment from the deal. 

The Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCLtd., Mele Kolo Kyari, said at  the signing ceremony today in Abuja that the contract extension became realisable after President Muhammadu Buhari directed that disputes regarding ease of doing business raised by international oil companies (IoCs) be addressed.

Most of the oil majors, Kyari noted, had expressed worry about rising oil theft in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta, which they complained was affecting their businesses.

Kyari said the development was “a major step towards boosting Nigeria’s crude production and unlocking investments in the deepwater space post-Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) enactment.”

He disclosed that the NNPCLtd and its production sharing contracts (PSCs) contractors had resolved their disputes and signed renewed PSCs.

The PSC partners of the NNPCLtd who renewed their partnerships are Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (TEPNG), Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (EEPNL), and Nigerian Agip Exploration (NAE).

The contract extension focused on five Oil Mining Leases (OMLs 128, 130,132, 133, and 138), a development that is expected to unlock over $500 billion in revenue for the country.