President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the restoration of the leases on OMLs 123, 124, 126 and 137 to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which is in production sharing contract with Addax Petroleum.
Addax Petroleum is wholly owned by Government of the People’s Republic of China.
The leases belonging to the Federation were revoked on March 30, 2021.
Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, confirmed the development in a statement in Abuja on Friday.
He said the restoration of the OMLs was in line with the current administration’s commitment to the rule of law, fairness and enabling a stable business climate for investment.
According to the presidential aide, this development reaffirms the commitment of the Buhari administration to the rule of law and sanctity of contracts.
Shehu quoted the president as directing the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to retract the letter of revocation of the leases.
The president also directed NNPC to utilise 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 will boost the organisation’s portfolio, thereby making the corporation to, in the long run, boost its crude oil production and in turn increase the revenue it generates to the Federation Account,” the presidential aide said.
