The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it has paid $1.5 billion cash call to international oil companies (IOC), which are Joint Venture partners of the corporation.
The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, said this at the 12th National Conference of the Nigerian Association for Energy Economics/International Association for Energy Economics in Abuja on Monday that the payment was part of the cash call arrears of $5.1billion owed the oil companies.
Baru said that 2018 marked the second year without the corporation incurring any cash call arrears.
“So far, we have repaid over $1.5 billion out of the $5.1 billion cash call arrears to date, a development that has not only restored the confidence of international oil companies, IOC, JV partners, but has also led to improved reserves growth and crude oil production.
“It was quite fulfilling that in 2018, that is for the second year in a row, we concluded the fiscal year without any cash call arrears,” the report by Punch newspaper on Tuesday quoted Baru as saying.
GIK/APA