President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the restoration of Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) 123, 124, 126 and 137 to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which is in production sharing contract with Addax Petroleum, a company owned by government of the People’s Republic of China.
The leases, belonging to the Federation Government (FG), were revoked on March 30, 2021.
However, in a release signed by the President’s spokesman, Garba Shehu, Buhari predicated the restoration of the leases on the current administration’s commitment to the rule of law, fairness and creating a stable business climate for investment.
Buhari directed the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to retract the letter of revocation of the leases, and also directed NNPC to utilize 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, according to the president, will boost the organisation’s portfolio, thereby making NNPC to, in the long run, boost its crude oil production and in turn increase the revenue it generates to the Federation Account.
