President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the restoration of the leases on Oil Mining License (OML) 123, 124, 126 and 137 to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The assets were previously operated by Addax Petroleum Exploration Nigeria Limited, a company owned by the Government of the People’s Republic of China.

A statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said the leases, which belong to the Federation, had been revoked on the 30th March, 2021.

According to the statement, Presidential action would help the NNPC to increase its production quota, thereby generating more revenue for the Federation Account.

“In line with the current administration’s commitment to the rule of law, fairness and enabling a stable business climate for investment, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the restoration of the leases on OMLs 123, 124, 126 and 137 to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC which is in production sharing contract with Addax Petroleum, a company wholly owned by Government of the People’s Republic of China on the blocks. The leases belonging to the Federation were revoked on March 30, 2021

“This development reaffirms the commitment of President Buhari to the rule of law and sanctity of contracts.

“While directing the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR to retract the letter of revocation of the leases, the President also directed NNPC to utilize contractual provisions to resolve issues in line with the extant provisions of the Production Sharing Contract arrangement between NNPC and Addax.

“The restoration of the blocks to NNPC will boost the organisation’s portfolio, thereby making the Corporation to, in the long run, boost its crude oil production and in turn increase the revenue it generates to the Federation Account,” the statement reads.

The leases were revoked in March as a result of the non-development of the assets by Addax Petroleum.