The Nigeria NNPC Group announced that it signed off on agreements for monetization of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 143 with Sterling Global. The agreement will give Sterling Global the licences to begin production and trade from findings early even at the exploration stage.

Sterling Global was accused of an illegal mining operation in 2019. The House of Representatives had to order them to stop oil exploration in Ogwu Ikpele in Ogbaru, Anambra State. A motion from the Ogwu Ikpele community tagging Sterling’s operations illegal and environmentally harmful prompted the decision. The community, therefore, requested an urgent Urgent Need for Intervention headed by Hon. Chukwuma Onyema. No word was later heard on the resolution of the issue.

Details of NNPC deal with Sterling global on the Oil Mining Lease, 143 Monetization

An oil mining lease monetisation contract allows a company to go ahead with developing and monetizing new findings with available details of production. The company can do the necessary paperwork and documentation – appraisal, developmental plan and others at a later time.

With the details and conditions of the agreement between the NNPC Group and the Sterling Global still pending, the contracts give licensees to Sterling global to instantly monetize OML 143 operations.

The statement from the NNPC Group reads: “NNPC Group & Sterling Global have signed off on agreements for monetization of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 143. This latest development will help increase NNPC’s footprints in the downstream gas market and potential revenue of $500-600m to Nigeria”.

The signatures which the contract bears are those of the Managing Director on NNPC, Mele Kyari. He signed the dotted lines on behalf of NNPC group. Mr Tony Chukwueke, Chairman of Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Company Limited, signed for his company according to the statement.