Cash Call Arrears: Nigeria Repays Oil Firms’ $3.81bn Debt

Nigerian Government has repaid a total of paid $3.81bn in debt to five international oil companies (IOCs), leaving an outstanding balance of $873.34m.

Gatekeepers News reports that this was contained in the latest updates on Nigeria’s cash call arrears repayment released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on Thursday in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

According to the report, the $3.81bn repayment was made on May 31, 2022. The total negotiated debt between the government and the five IOCs was put at $4.68bn.

The five IOCs include Shell Petroleum Development Company, Mobil Producing Nigeria, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Total Exploration and Production Nigeria, and Nigeria Agip Oil Company.

Cash calls are sent by joint venture operators to non-operating partners for payment in the light of anticipated future capital, operating expenditures or the need for additional capital contributions.

The Federal Government through NNPC had over the years piled up unpaid bills, referred to as cash calls, which it was obliged to pay the IOCs with which it had joint ventures for oil exploration and production.

The government’s joint venture partners in this arrangement include: Shell Petroleum Development Company, Mobil Producing Nigeria, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Total Exploration and Production Nigeria, and Nigeria Agip Oil Company.

The report on latest cash call arrears repayment released by the NNPC indicated that the total negotiated debts of $833.75m and $1.09bn for Mobil and Chevron respectively, had been cleared by the government.

The total negotiated debts for SPDC, TEPNG and NAOC were put at $1.37bn, $610.97m and $774.66m, while the total payments to date (May 31, 2022) to the three IOCs were $777.4m, $545.86m and $561.53m, leaving outstanding balances of $595.1m, $65.11m and $213.13m respectively.

The report showed that the total negotiated debt for all five IOCs was $4.68bn. Total payment to date as at the period of review was $3.81bn, while outstanding balance was $873.34m.