The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation recorded a shortfall of $3.3bn in 2015 in its cash call obligations to joint venture oil and gas assets being operated by private firms, data from the corporation showed.
The NNPC was only able to pay $4.13bn to the JV partners as against $7.39bn approved to be paid for last year for the development of the assets.
The nation’s oil and gas production structure is majorly split between joint ventures onshore and in shallow water with foreign and local companies and production sharing contracts in deepwater offshore.
The NNPC owns between 55 per cent (for JVs with Shell) and 60 per cent (for all others) and the JVs are jointly funded by the oil majors and the government through the corporation.