NNPC – Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation

The West African country’s National Oil Company is said to have signed a preliminary Head of Terms (HoT) agreement to end a dispute on Oil Mining Lease 130 with two major oil companies operating in the country.

The deal was signed with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Lagos-based South Atlantic Petroleum Co. (SAPETRO) to settle all disputes regarding the OML 130 Production Sharing Contract.

The offshore license holds the Akpo field that started production in March 2009 and the Egina field that started production in December 2018. CNOOC holds 45% interest of OML 130 and SAPETRO holds 15% stake in the block. Other partners are French Major, Total and  Brazil’s Petrobas.

In a statement on Twitter by the group’s official handle, it read “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”

The NNPC announced about a year ago that the deal is “a major milestone toward the resolution of all disputes” with energy companies operating in Nigeria. The Group Managing Director of the Corporation also said that a resolution was in the pipeline.

The Corporation also have pending issues with some oil majors operating in the country on claims five years ago that the companies either failed to declare or under-declared more than 57 million barrels of oil exports; an allegation that was denied by the oil producers. The alleged companies are Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total SA, Eni SpA and Chevron Corp.

The case is currently before a Federal High Court in the country’s business hub, Lagos, and the NNPC is expecting at least a payment of $12.7 billion.