Nigeria To Pay $5.1 Billion To Oil Majors

Hamilton Nwosa
Writer
new-diplomat default image
new-diplomat default image

Ad

BREAKING! [VIDEO] Ministers, Advisors, Party Chief, military officers killed in Helicopter Crash in Ghana

By Abiola Olawale A devastating military helicopter crash in Ghana’s Adansi Akrofuom District has claimed the lives of eight individuals, including two prominent ministers, advisors, and military personnel. The incident, which occurred on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, has been described as a "Black Wednesday" for Ghana, with the government and citizens grappling with the profound…

South-South Highways Now Dead traps, Says King of Idjerhe

By Abiola Olawale In a passionate plea, His Royal Majesty, King Obukowho Monday Arthur Whiskey, the Ovie of Idjerhe Kingdom, has spoken up about what he called the deteriorating state of roads in Nigeria’s South-South region, labeling them "death traps" that have left communities isolated and lives at risk. The monarch also urged both the…

Murdoch to provide health updates to Trump in deal to delay Epstein case deposition

Rupert Murdoch will give President Donald Trump updates on his health to postpone his deposition in Trump’s defamation lawsuit over a Wall Street Journal article about Jeffrey Epstein. The agreement comes after Trump’s lawyers sought a quick deposition from Murdoch, implying he could be dead or too sick to testify in person by the time…

Ad

Nigeria has reached a deal to pay $5.1 billion in unpaid bills to oil majors including Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil , the minister of state for oil said on Thursday.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the OPEC member’s state oil firm, has amassed a total of $6.8 billion in unpaid bills up to December 2015, so-called cash calls, that it was obliged to pay under joint ventures with Western oil firms, with which it explores for and produces oil.

Oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said the agreed amount, which is $1.7 billion less than the total amount owed, would be paid within five years, interest free.

Under the arrangement, payment will be in the form of crude oil cargoes but only when Nigeria’s production exceeds 2.2 million barrels per day, Kachikwu said, which is the nation’s current production when all fields are operating properly.

“If for any reason we did not meet (the) threshold we will not pay the $5.1 (billion), so that is fantastic,” he said of the deal, which has been approved by the National Economic Council, an advisory body to the government.

Kachikwu last week said Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Italy’s ENI, Chevron and France’s Total had “accepted” what he described at the time as an “outline settlement”.

All five of the oil majors declined to comment when approached by Reuters.

The petroleum ministry has for more than a year been trying to reduce its financial obligations, which have accumulated over several years. Kachikwu said there is at least $2.5 billion in additional debt that has accrued this year that it is still working to repay.

(Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram and Libby George; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Elaine Hardcastle)

 

Ad

X whatsapp