The quest by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to increase the nation’s crude oil reserves and daily oil production to 3million barrels per day has received a major boost with the signing of a $3.15bn Financing and Technical Services Agreement between Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company Limited (SEEPCO) and the exploration and production arm of NNPC, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), for the development of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 13.
OML 13 is 100 percent owned by the NPDC and is located in the eastern axis of the Niger Delta covering a total area of 1987km².
A press release signed by Ndu Ughamadu, group general manager, Group Public Affairs Division, quoted Mele Kyari, group managing director of NNPC, as describing the funding arrangement as “a game changer to oil and gas project financing in Nigeria”.
The boss who was represented by Roland Ewubare, Chief Operating Officer, Upstream, expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, for approving the transaction, adding that OML 13 held strong potentials both for the petroleum industry and the nation’s economy.
He disclosed that the Federal Government is expected to earn over $10.2bn in royalties and taxes from the project over the next 15 years, while NNPC would earn over $5bn after payment of the entire financing obligation.
He advised the management of NPDC to develop a strong community engagement strategy to forestall any crisis that could hinder operations.
The Mele Kyari disclosed that the acreage boasts of over 926 million stock tank barrels (mmstb) and 5.24 trillion cubic feet (tcf) respectively of oil and gas reserves, adding that the Financing and Technical Services Agreement was for a period of 15 years while the $3.15bn ceiling funding would be provided by SEEPCO with a 10-year capital investment period and five years for cost recovery.
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