The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has announced its signing of a series of agreements concerning Oil Mining License (OML) 130 with major oil exploration and production (E&P) companies in furtherance of its sustained efforts to improve Nigeria’s oil output on a sustainable basis.
The company stated through its official Twitter account that the agreements were signed on Thursday in Abuja
OML 130 is a major oil mining license in Nigeria, and analysts believe that the signing of these agreements marked a desirable development in the country’s petroleum sector.
According to industry experts, the NNPC’s involvement in OML 130 further demonstrates its commitment to improved performance of the nation’s exploration and production of oil resources as well as strengthening its position as a key player in the nation’s hydrocarbon resources sector..
The NNPCL stated that the agreements on OML 130 were signed with five oil companies as well as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The company stated: “Today marked a significant milestone as we executed the OML 130 Suite of Agreements with our valued partners: CNOOC, SAPETRO, TUPNI, PRIME 130, and NUPRC.
“The suite included a Production Sharing Contract, Heads of Agreement Amendment, Settlement Repayment Agreement, Concession Contracts for 1 PPL and 3 PMLs, and Lease & License Instruments”, it added.
Specifically, the company listed the agreements as including a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) between NNPCL and its Contractors; China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) & South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPETRO) with Total Upstream Nigeria (TUPNI) as the operator; and a Heads of Agreement (HoA) Amendment between NNPCL, TUPNI, SAPETRO, PRIME 130, & CNOOC.
Others are a Settlement Repayment Agreement (SRA) Addendum between NNPCL and its Contractors (CNOOC & SAPETRO); Concession Contracts for one Petroleum Prospecting License (PPL) and three (3) Petroleum Mining Leases (PML); and Lease & License Instruments between NNPC, TUPNI, SAPETRO, PRIME 130, and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Formerly known as oil prospecting license (OPL) 246, OML 130 is a deepwater block located 130 kilometers offshore Niger Delta at water depths of over 1000 metres. The block contains the producing Akpo and Egina fields and the Preowei discovery.
The former OPL 246 was awarded in 1998 to SAPETRO but was later converted to OML 130 in February 2005 after the commercial discovery of oil in Akpo and Egina in 2000 and 2003 respectively
It would be recalled that in August 2020, the then government-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) signed a Head of terms agreement with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and indigenous oil production firm -South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPETRO).
The agreement was a part of the efforts that were taken toward resolving all the disputes arising from the OML 130 Production Sharing Contract.
