• Wednesday, 16 May, 2012

ExxonMobil ‘agrees Nigerian renewals’

Licences renewed: Rex Tillerson-led ExxonMobil signs drilling contract renewals in Nigeria, according to report

WPC

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By News wires

 22 February 2012 10:59 GMT

ExxonMobil has ended a long-running feud with Nigerian authorities by putting pen to paper on a deal to renew licences for another 20 years, according to a report.

The US supermajor has signed the licence renewal contracts on assets which together produce around 550,000 barrels of oil per day, Reuters reported.

The news wire quoted ExxonMobil’s head of Nigerian operations, Mark Ward, as saying: “We are very pleased with the outcome.”

The rift stretches back about nine months when Nigeria’s state oil company gave ExxonMobil an ultimatum to express its interest in a trio of licences which the US giant claimed it had already been granted.

ExxonMobil contended that it had signed agreements in 2009 with the Nigerian government for the long-term renewal of licences OML 67, 68 and 70, which it operates as part of a joint venture with state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The disputed blocks are situated in the shallow water creeks of the Niger Delta and are some of the largest oil-producing assets in Africa's largest energy industry.

Delays to wide-ranging energy reforms mean several expired drilling licences dating back as far as 2008 have not been renewed with foreign oil companies, including Shell and Chevron.

The Nigerian government has been reluctant to sign new deals until the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which is likely to increase royalties and taxes, has been passed into law.

That Bill is still making very slow progress through parliament, however.

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