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Nigeria has ordered foreign oil and gas companies to pay nearly $ 20 billion in taxes, which it says are due to local governments, industry and government sources said, which could discourage investment in the largest amount of money. Africa's economy.
In a letter to companies earlier this year through a government debt collection group, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) referred to what it called the exceptional royalties and taxes for the production of oil and gas.
Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Eni, Total and Equinor have each been asked to pay the central government between $ 2.5 billion and $ 5 billion, sources said, who saw or received information about the letters.
The Norwegian company Equinor, which produced about 45,000 barrels of oil a day in Nigeria in 2017, confirmed this demand.
"Several operators have received similar complaints in a case opposing Nigerian authorities and local authorities in certain parts of the country," said a spokeswoman for Equinor.
Exxon "is studying the issue," said a spokeswoman for the American company.
Shell, Total, Eni and Chevron declined to comment, as did the Nigerian presidency, the oil ministry and the NNPC.
"NO MERIT"
This accusation occurred after the central Nigerian government and local states settled a dispute over the distribution of oil revenues. The parties agreed last year that
Abuja would pay several billion dollars to the states, announced three companies and government sources.
The companies had to challenge their respective payment claims.
"Equinor does not see the interest of this case," said the spokesman for the company.
A source at another company said, "It sounds like an internal conflict between the federal government and local governments. The central government is simply trying to transfer to CIOs (international oil companies) the money it owes. "
It was unclear whether the move was linked to the upcoming presidential election in Nigeria, the most populous African country.
Fiscal Demand Adds New Challenge to Energy Companies Investing in Nigeria, Africa's Largest Oil and Gas Producer, Who Negotiated Production Sharing Agreements with Government to Develop and Operate Offshore Oilfields giants.
Oil theft, mbadive oil spills and corruption further complicate operations in the country.
Nigeria, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), produced about 2.1 million bpd of oil last year, up from 1.86 million bpd in 2017, says NNPC .
Nigeria uses several types of contracts with energy companies, including the creation of joint ventures and the sharing of production, the two most common partnerships for international oil companies in the country.
The companies pay to the government in the form of royalties and taxes and provide the state with oil and gas.
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