Addax exits four oil blocks, NNPC takes over assets
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd announced on Tuesday that Sinopec’s Addax Petroleum Development (Nigeria) Ltd had exited and transferred four major oil mining blocks in Nigeria to the state-owned oil company.
Addax began operations in Nigeria in 1998 by signing Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
NNPC announced through its Twitter account saying, “NNPC Ltd and Addax Petroleum Development (Nigeria) Ltd signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Transfer, Settlement and Exit Agreement for Oil Mining Leases (OML) 123/124 and OMLs 126/137.”
The Chief Executive Officer, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Mr. Bala Wunti said, “With this agreement, Addax has ceased to be the Production Sharing Contractor contractor of the asset.” The terms of the agreement were not disclosed by NNPC or Wunti.
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The oil leases were revoked in April 2021 by the petroleum regulator, who accused Addax of failing to develop them sufficiently, but the decision was reversed three weeks later by President Muhammadu Buhari. According to Addax’s website, three of the leases have producing fields. NNPC became a commercial entity in July and is stockpiling assets in preparation for an IPO in the second half of next year.
