The Ogoni leaders made the pledge Tuesday at the Ogoni Liberation Day which held in Bori with the Managing Director of NPDC, Mr. Mohammed Ali-Zarah, as an invited guest.

Speaking at the event, the Convener and leader of the Ogoni Liberation Initiative, Rev. Douglas Fabeke, commended the Court of Appeal for the judgement confirming NPDC as the valid operator of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 11, stressing that the Ogoni people welcomed with great joy the intervention of the Federal Government and the takeover of the oil assets by NPDC following the judgement of the Appeal Court in Abuja.

The Ogoni leader described the judgment that handed OML11 to NPDC as liberation for the Ogoni people, stressing that the people of Ogoni have “looked forward to this freedom over the years”.

He further praised President Muhammadu Buhari for his administration’s commitment to the development of Ogoniland, adding that his people would support all efforts aimed at restoring the environment and exploring its huge natural resources for the benefit of all.

He declared that Ogoni leaders had resolved to eschew bitterness and work with the Federal Government to ensure that the people benefitted from the resources in their land.

“The Ogoni people are ready for oil and gas business in the land to entrench development in partnership with the NNPC and the Federal Government of Nigeria through a transformed template and practical community development delivered by the host communities.

“The Ogoni people are ready to do all forms of businesses with the State, Federal and Global Corporate Communities for the development of their land, provided the business is anchored upon Ogoni development,” he said.

He submitted a communique on behalf of the people of Ogoni to the Federal Government as the request of Ogoni people and as condition for the mutual relationship between the people and NPDC.

The communique, among other things, requested that “the issue of clean-up in Ogoniland should be re-visited and the Government should mandate the handling agency to expedite actions and clean the land in tune with the UNEP Report’s recommendation or allow the Ogoni people to bring experts that would perfectly implement the recommendations of the UNEP Report to the letter.”

It also called on the Federal Government to expedite action on the provisions of infrastructure to the Ogoni people.

“The Ogoni people will not work under any political manipulation that will affect the development and smooth operation in the land without capturing the interest of the people. We stand by every word drafted here and will implement it to the letter, and also ready to give the Federal Government of Nigeria maximum cooperation to achieve its aim for the success and benefit of the nation and the Ogoni people,” the communique stated.

In his remarks, the Managing Director of NPDC, Mr. Mohammed Ali-Zarah, said the company understood the concerns and yearnings of the Ogoni people and shared in their pain.

He said NPDC and the Federal Government would work with the Ogoni people to bring development, employment and growth to the land, remediate the environment and ensure that future exploration and production activities did not impact negatively on the environment.

Ali-Zarah noted that the large turn-out of people, including traditional rulers, at the event was a huge moral boost to NPDC’s confidence in its re-entry plan.

“Indeed, this is a clear testimonial and demonstration of the strong cordial relationship that has existed between us over the years. This, for us, is our social license to operate in this peace-loving community,” the Managing Director said.

He observed that it was in the best interest of the country to speedily restore the environment of Ogoniland and create the needed condition for the social economic development of the communities.

“As a viable partner, we would join you to pursue the greater good of our people and the nation. We stand with you and would work with you to achieve this within the shortest possible time,” he said.

On the communique submitted by the Ogoni Liberation Initiative signed by leaders of various communities that make up Ogoniland, Ali-Zarah assured them that he would send the document to the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation for onward transmission to the relevant quarters, including the Presidency.

Oil production operations were suspended in Ogoniland in the early 1990s due to disruptions caused by local unrest.

The oilfields and other installations have since largely remained dormant.

Hope was, however, rekindled last week following an Appeal Court judgment that paved the way for NPDC to take over the operatorship of the oil assets in Ogoniland from Shell.

The Appeal Court sitting in Abuja upturned the August 23, 2019, ruling of the Federal High Court, Abuja which held that the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) was entitled to the renewal of the Lease on OML 11.

In the ruling, the Appellate Court held that the Minister of Petroleum Resources has the discretion whether or not to renew the OML 11 Lease in favor of SPDC.

The Court further held that the Minister rightly exercised his discretion in awarding the OML 11 Lease to NPDC, a subsidiary of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

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A press release by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, stated that there were no fatalities or injuries and no significant spill in the incident.

There was, however, significant damage to the marine storage vessel, MT Harcourt, which will impact production by about 10,000barrels of oil per day.

NNPC has since commenced investigation to ascertain the cause of the incident with a view to averting future occurrence.

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The crude oil prepayment has enabled NNPC to pay NPDC’s Tax obligations to the Federal Government of Nigeria, of circa US$700M with the balance utilised to fund NPDC’s capital and operating expenditures.

According to the Group General Manager, Group Public Affair Division, NNPC, Kennie Obateru, in a statement, the prepayment financing is backed by future oil production of NPDC, and utilises a well-established structure to enable the purchaser of the crude, Eagle Export Funding Limited, to raise financing in the domestic and international markets, to fund an upfront payment to NNPC under a Forward Sale Agreement, FSA.

The financing which funded the prepayment has been structured over two tranches: a 5 year USD amortizing tranche (“Tranche 1”) and a 7 year NGN amortizing tranche (“Tranche 2”). Both tranches benefit from a cash sweep with the 7-year tranche having a 1-year non-call period.

These tranches shall be repaid by Eagle Export Funding Limited from the export sale proceeds of the NPDC crude, which in turn are backed by Letters of Credit, issued by banks with a minimum credit rating, in line with market precedent.

The export price for the crude is the relevant NNPC Official Selling Price, OSP, for the corresponding calendar month and crude grade.

Vitol and Matrix Energy have executed the standard NNPC Crude Oil Sale & Purchase Agreement.

The participants in the Eagle Export Funding Limited deal include Standard Chartered Bank, United Bank for Africa, Afrexim Bank, Union Bank and two oil trading companies, Vitol and Matrix Energy.

Despite the constrained liquidity situation in the financing markets due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the pricing and terms obtained for the USD and NGN funding tranches were very competitive and better than precedent transactions.

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The Managing Director of NPDC, Engr. Mansur Sambo, disclosed this during a facility tour of the company’s Oredo Gas Handling plant by the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, in Benin City, Edo State.

Speaking on the medium term projection of the company which is currently the highest supplier of natural gas to the domestic market, the NPDC boss said besides the 1 billion standard cubic feet per day (bscf/d) it currently produces, the company would add another 600mmscf to its production portfolio in the next three to five years.

Giving a breakdown of the projection, Sambo said the company’s OML 34 was expected to deliver 360mmscf/d, while OMLs 42 and 111 would deliver 120mmscf/d apiece.

He stated that NPDC had revved up production in OML 111 by 2,100barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and 27mmscfd of gas, thereby increasing cumulative production from the acreage to 10,699bpd.

Sambo, who also announced the successful drilling of Well 16 in OML 111, said the well was essentially for gas with associated crude oil, adding that the plan was for the Gas Plant to be fed from the well.

On the Gas Handling Facility, the NPDC boss disclosed that the Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, unit would be ready for commissioning in October, 2020.

Speaking at the occasion, Mallam Kyari described the development as a significant step towards growing the nation’s crude oil reserves and increasing production, stressing that more of such was needed to meet the target of 3 million barrels per day production and sustain the nation’s economic growth.

“This gas facility in particular will deliver at least 240 metric tons of LPG to domestic market within a year and that is a very significant fraction of current level of supply into the market. It will ease the spending on foreign exchange by the country. This is monumental and underscores government efforts of making sure that this is the year of gas. The gas is the cheapest and easiest way of getting development in this country,” the GMD enthused.

He congratulated the management and staff of NPDC for fast-tracking the completion of its Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, Gas Plant, reiterating that gas development was key to the nation’s quest for industrialisation.

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