By John Ikani
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has consolidated its dominance in the Nigerian oil and gas industry by taking over the production-sharing contract assets of Addax Petroleum Development (Nigeria) Limited.
The takeover comes just a few months after the state oil company acquired OVH Energy Marketing.
According to the NNPCL Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Garba Deen Muhammad, the takeover was “amicable” and followed the execution of the Addax Transfer, Settlement and Exit Agreement.
“All closing obligations have been concluded and the assets have now been transferred to the NNPCL,” he said.
Muhammad went on to note that the NNPCL will now operate the assets on an interim basis, with plans to appoint a competent replacement contractor in the future.
“The NNPCL will continue to serve as the concessionaire of the assets, in accordance with laws and regulations.
“Exit negotiations and formalities have been completed, with NNPC collaborating with various government agencies to ensure a clean and amicable exit for Addax.
All contractual issues, including litigations, have been resolved, leading to the execution of the Transfer, Settlement, and Exit Agreement on November 1st, 2022,” he added.
As of January 31st, 2023, Addax has transferred the operatorship of OMLs 123/124 and 126/137 to Antan Producing Limited for the transition period, pending the appointment of a replacement contractor.
The directive of the President has been followed in this process.
