The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, says its four most recent investments with key upstream joint venture partners can increase Nigeria’s revenue by over $30 billion in the next decade.
The Group Managing Director, GMD, of the Corporation, Maikanti Baru, disclosed this on Monday at the inauguration of the reconstituted NNPC Anti-Corruption Committee in Abuja.
According to a statement on Tuesday by the corporation, Mr. Baru said: “These four projects alone are going to raise incremental revenues to Nigeria of over $30 billion over the life of the projects in less than 10 years.
“They will also serve as part of the vehicle for exiting JV Cash Calls. We have to pay our arrears of about $6 billion that were incurred pre-2016 and we are also paying up a tranche of about $1 billion 2016 arrears. We started in April 2017 with the payment of $400 million and we will pay the balance before the anniversary of the first payment,” Mr. Baru said.
He said the investments, which attracted close to $3.8 billion worth of foreign direct investments, would be a vehicle to speed up the prevailing post Cash-Call exit era.
The $1.2 billion multi-year drilling for 36 offshore/ onshore oil wells under the NNPC/ Chevron Nigeria Limited, code named project Cheetah and the NNPC/First E and P JV and Schlumberger tripartite $800 million alternative funding agreement for the development of the Anyalu and Madu fields in the Niger Delta, were listed by the GMD as the critical Joint Venture alternative financing Upstream Investment.
The agreements executed in London last week for the $1billon NNPC/SPDC JV Project Santolina and the NNPC/Chevron $780 million Project Falcon on Sonam, previously financed through JV Cash Call, were also listed by Mr. Baru.
The NNPC finance and technical teams were commended by the GMD for successfully attracting the needed foreign investment as it became increasingly difficult to attract foreign credit facilities.
According to Mr. Baru, the arrangement would allow the NNPC to subsequently function from the production revenue, less the first line charge to government, which are the royalties and petroleum profit tax.
He said whatever profit accrues subsequently, would be remitted to the government after the deduction of the cost of production.
The GMD traced NNPC’s participation in the anti-corruption campaign to year 2000 when the federal government directed all its Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs to inaugurate in-house Anti-Corruption Committees, stating that the NNPC was the first to put one in place, which he chaired in October 2000.
Mr. Baru, on the anti-corruption campaign in relation to the quest for revenue, urged members of staff to never allow corrupt practices to distract them from the great task ahead.
He noted that through organising workshops, sensitisation campaigns, seminars and federal government publications on issues concerning corruption and economic crimes, the NNPC Anti-Corruption Committee had consistently carried out its mission of eradicating corruption within the commission.
The GMD further urged the new members being inaugurated to exceed the achievements of the past committees in line with the present administration’s anti-graft agenda.
He emphasised that the prevailing global economic reality was to change from old ways of doing business and embrace the best practice of transparency, accountability and honesty with integrity.
He also thanked the former committee members for a job well done. The newly inaugurated head of the NNPC Anti-Corruption Committee is Group General Manager in the Finance and Account Directorate and veteran anti-corruption crusader, Mike Balami.
Mr. Balami pledged the readiness of the newly inaugurated committee members to work harmoniously towards achieving a corruption-free NNPC.
He urged the reconstitution and inauguration of the anti-corruption units by heads of Strategic Business Units and Corporate Services Units in order to work closely with the Corporate Anti-Corruption Committee to ensure a corruption-free NNPC.
Kindly follow us on twitter:@AfricanVoice2
