Nigeria’s national Oil Company NNPC said it reimbursed major international oil companies including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc $3 billion, moving closer to clearing operating expense or so called ‘cash call’ arrears owed since 2010.
The payment is being settled through a five-year crude oil sales deal agreed in 2016, NNPC said in a statement. While a majority has been paid as of August, there’s still about $1.7 billion outstanding. Exxon has got $2.3 billion, clearing all dues. Shell has received $455 million, but is still owed $917 million.
NNPC operates joint ventures with producers including Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron Corp., Total SE and Eni SpA that pump about 80 percent of Nigeria’s output. Lower revenue and demands for other payments hampered NNPC’s ability to contribute its share of expenses from 2010 to 2015, leading to the arrears.
It still owes Eni $385 million, Total $304 million and Chevron $55 million, according to the statement.
The Nigerian state-run company on Oct. 15 published audited accounts for only the second time in its 43-year history. The report showed its annual loss shrank by 99.7 percent to N1.7 billion last year as it slashed costs across its operations.