Nigerian state oil firm wants up to $5bn pre-payment to fund upstream projects
London — Nigeria’s state oil firm is looking to set up a $3.5bn to $5bn cash-for-crude pre-payment with some of the world’s top commodity traders to fund oil and gas upstream projects, as well as related infrastructure, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Africa’s biggest oil producer and oil cartel Opec member was hit hard by the sharp drop in global oil prices in 2014 that pushed it into its first recession in 25 years. The country returned to growth-mode in the second quarter. Already cash-strapped and weighed down by billions of dollars in old debts, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has also been looking to bring in outside cash. The sources said Standard Chartered was hired to advise on the oil pre-payment and a request-for-proposal was issued a few weeks ago for a $3.5bn to $5bn loan to be repaid with crude over five to seven years, the sources said. A spokesperson for Standard Chartered declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for NNPC. The s...
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