By Biodun Busari

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has taken over the assets of Addax Petroleum’s production sharing contract (PSC).

NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Mele Kyari and the outgoing Managing Director of Addax,  Yonghong Chen signed the closing documents on behalf of the two parties.

Addax belonged to Sinopec, a state-owned Chinese firm.

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But, NNPC said the documents were signed by the two companies in Abuja today, according to information on Twitter.

The signing formality marked the termination of the 24-year PSC relationship between both oil firms.

NNPC tweeted, “BREAKING: @nnpclimited Takes Over #Addax Petroleum’s PSC Assets.

“After fulfilling closing obligations, @nnpclimited and Addax Petroleum Development (Nigeria) Ltd today amicably terminated their 24-Year Production Sharing Contract (PSC) relationship.”

The development comes over two months after Addax Petroleum Development Nigeria transferred four major oil mining leases (OMLs) to NNPC, after withdrawing from the assets.

Both companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the transfer, settlement, and exit agreement (TSEA).

In April 2021, the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) rescinded the four Addax licences over poor development of the assets but three weeks later, President Muhammadu Buhari restored the licences.