JVC: Nigeria owes oil companies $5.1bn, says NNPC

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has revealed that Nigeria currently owes International Oil Companies $5.1 billion in the Joint Venture Cash Call (JVC ) arrangement.

The development comes as the Corporation has denied mismanagement of $3.2bn withdrawn from the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas ( NLNG) Account in the last three years.

Chief Financial Officer of NNPC, Isiaka Abdulrasaq made the disclosure on Thursday when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Gas Resources.

According to him, while Nigeria controls 60 percent of the business venture, the IOCs control 40 percent.

“The problem however is that before this government came on board in 2015, Nigeria which holds 60% of shares in the joint business, for many years did not contribute its own required capital into it but only collecting its equity in form of revenues which made the country have $6.8bn unpaid capital into the venture.

“But the present government in 2016 succeeded in getting 35% discount from the unpaid capital amounting to $1.9bn from the unpaid capital, reducing the amount being owed IOCs to $5.1bn”, he explained.

On the alleged $3.2bn withdrawn from the NLNG account by NNPC since 2015, Abdulrasaq insisted that this there was no mismanagement in any of the withdrawals made.

He explained that only 13 withdrawals were made from the Account totalling $1.2 billion.

He lamented that not less than seven out of the international oil companies dealing with the NNPC, have been apprehensive on continuity of their business operations as a result of the figures being bandied around on withdrawals from the NLNG account.

In his remarks, Chairman of the committee, Albert Bassey Akpan ordered the Corporation to submit approving documents for all the withdrawals by Tuesday next week.

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja