Abdul Lawal

In its bid to expand its production portafolio, Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited said it has taken control of the operation of Production Sharing Contract (PSC) assets from Addax Petroleum Development Nigeria Limited.

NNPCL’s Corporate Communications Manager, Garba Deen Muhammad, disclosed this in a statement issued Tuesday in Abuja.

According to him all closing obligations had been concluded and the assets transferred to the Concessionaire, NNPC Limited.
The takeover comes three months after the execution of the Addax Transfer, Settlement, and Exit Agreement (ATSEA) for the PSC Oil blocks, OMLs 123/124 & 126/137, operated by Addax Petroleum Limited he stated

Muhammadu said: “Consequently, NNPC has taken necessary steps to takeover the assets and oversee a clean, amicable, and speedy exit for Addax Petroleum Ltd., operate the asset on interim basis as a first step and subsequently appoint a competent replacement PSC contractor.

“This happened while NNPC Limited continues to remain the concessionaire of the assets in line with extant laws and regulations.

“Exit negotiations and formalities have been concluded and NNPC Ltd. in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, NUPRC, NMDPRA, FIRS, EFCC, and the FCCPC have agreed on the clean and amicable exit for Addax.

“Agreement was reached by resolving all the PSC contractual issues, including litigations that culminated in the execution of a Transfer, Settlement, and Exit Agreement (TSEA) on November 1, 2022.”

According to Muhammad, with fulfilment of the closing obligations by the parties and effective January 31, 2023, Addax transfers the operatorship of OMLs 123/124 and 126/137 to Antan Producing Limited on interim basis.

He said the transfer would last through the transition period pending the emplacement of a substantive replacement PSC in compliance with the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Muhammad said the NNPC Limited had already announced the appointment of the Transition Team Lead, Sagiru Jajere, as the Managing Director of Antan Producing Limited.

Before his appointment, Jajere was the Head of PSC Investment Management at the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services.

The spokesman said that Jajere would be supported by a team of highly competent personnel with in-depth knowledge of the peculiarities of the Addax Assets.

He added: “As the Addax Assets return to NNPC Ltd, it is expected that the much needed investments will be deployed to the assets while prudently conducting petroleum activities and creating value for the PSC, government and other stakeholders.”