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DPR revokes Pan Ocean oil mining licence OML 98, hands it over to NPDC
Director and Chief Executive Officer, Department of Petroleum Resources DPR Mr Sarki Auwalu, has said that the oil mining licence of Pan Ocean oil corporation OML 98 was revoked over non remittance of royalties. OML 98 is the only asset belonging to a Joint Venture (JV) between NNPC and Pan Ocean Oil. OML 98 is located in the onshore of Niger Delta. The acreage was originally awarded to Pan Ocean in 1971 as OPL 71 and was converted into OML 98 in 1975. Production from the JV started in 1976. OML 98 is an asset that is prolific. The 2P reserve is about 43 million barrels with 20 million barrels of condensates, with over 383 billion SCF of gas. These assets is supposed to work.
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) officially handed over the Oil Mining Licence (OML) 98 to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Speaking on the revocation Auwalu said “There is an obligation for each and every company that they need to pay to government; and the first line charge is royalty. If a company is not paying royalty, it means the company is not performing. So government then invoke its own right to revoke the asset and give it to somebody that would pay that royalty to the Nigerian people; because royalty is what Nigerians really take out of the business. All the investors come, we give them opportunities by giving them the assets; they would put in their money and they would give certain royalties, concession rentals and other revenue to government. That is really what government takes from the asset, the resource; whether it is oil, condensates or gas. The reason for the revocation is failure to meet obligations of that asset to government,’’ he said
He said that five other licences that were revoked alongside OML 98 were revoked for the same reason adding that government was looking at for the best people to transfer the assets to for maximum utilisation and benefits. “Why, because, we want the assets to work and we want Nigerian people to benefit from the resources they were blessed with ,so, the fate of the others will be similar to this and government is looking at the best way to operate the assets for Nigerians to benefits.’’ he added. He said that NPDC got the asset for its proven confidence in operations over the years. This is a company that 15 years ago they could not show to drill up to 10,000 barrels but now, our NPDC can produced over 150 million barrel per day. It shows that now, Nigeria has come of age, we have company of our own, 100 per cent Nigerians, operate by Nigerians and work for Nigeria and we are ready to transport skills. NPDC have fantastic good skills, there is no white man working in NPDC, drilling, production 100 per cent Nigeria, we are proud of them and we need to support them. This is our own made in Nigeria, by Nigeria and for Nigeria,’’ he said.
According to him, that is why government thought it wise handing over the OML 98 to them as it is our own company to make sure that Nigeria works. He noted that the handing over of the assets to NPDC means that Nigeria oil and gas sector had grown adding that the policy idea was to ensure that Nigeria take charge of its resources. Auwalu urged the company to be responsible and ensure that it operated with ultimate transparency and develop the asset for the benefit of Nigeria.
He noted that government would not spare any body found wanting. Ferdnard Bariwer, General Manager Exploration and Development Division, NPDC said that the company would look at the asset and sort the best things to do to move forward. “I strongly believe that we are doing more studies already, other activities; we will look at the OMLs and see the quick wins to start producing as soon as possible to meet the expectation of the nation.
“I assure you, I have been in NPDC since 1987 and I know the capability that we have , I assure you the government and everybody that NPDC is capable of handling the OML,’’ he said
He said that currently the company was producing about 200,000 barrel and working hard to move to between 300 and 500 barrel per day. Before the year will run, you will hear from us how much we are producing,’’ he said. Bariwe represented the Managing Director of NPDC, Mansur Sambo.
Also, Mr Olajide Ishola, Chief Operation Officer Pan Ocean Oil Corporation said that the asset was given to Pan Ocean 1973 and production started in 1976. So, we have operated the asset for 43 years, we are a responsible company , however, as thing went the way it went, this revocation is really not new as its been done since March last year. Today, is not a sad day, because since March last year that the revocation has been done, a lot of things has been left in limbo. This meeting of today sets the tone for the handover and the future of the asset, and also for those things left in limbo, like what do we do to the staff; the oil that has been produced, that was warehoused and not sold, not shared and all t he rest. I want to reiterate that as Pan Ocean, we will cooperate with NPDC and all relevant stakeholders to ensure that the directive is carried out for the benefit of Nigerians,’’ he said. Commenting on the Legacy debts, he said it would be worked on and sorted by the NPDC as the new operator. We would work along and cooperate with them to ensure it is done properly,’’ he added.
A new technology transfer agreement between the Nigeria–China Strategic Partnership (NCSP) and the Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer (PICTT) is expected to open more job opportunities, improve local skills, and expand access to advanced technology for ordinary Nigerians.
In a press statement reaching Vanguard on Friday, the MoU aims to strengthen industrial development, support local content, and create clearer pathways for Nigerians to benefit from China’s growing investments in the country.
PICTT Chairman, Dr Dahiru Mohammed, said the partnership will immediately begin coordinated programmes that support local participation in infrastructure and industrial projects.
Special Adviser to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr John Uwajumogu, said the deal will help attract high value investments that can stimulate job creation and strengthen Nigeria’s economy.
NCSP Head of International Relations, Ms Judy Melifonwu, highlighted that Nigerians stand to gain from expanded STEM scholarships, technical training, access to modern technology, and collaboration across key sectors including steel, agriculture, automobile parks, and cultural industries.
The NCSP Director-General reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to measurable results, noting that the partnership with PICTT will prioritise initiatives that deliver direct national impact.
The MoU signals a new phase of Nigeria–China cooperation focused on practical delivery, local content, and opportunities that improve everyday livelihoods.
EU regulators launched an antitrust investigation into Meta Platforms on Thursday over its rollout of artificial intelligence features in its WhatsApp messenger that would block rivals, hardening Europe’s already tough stance on Big Tech. The move, reported earlier by Reuters and the Financial Times, is the latest action by European Union regulators against large technology firms such as Amazon and Alphabet’s Google as the bloc seeks to balance support for the sector with efforts to curb its expanding influence.
Europe’s tough stance – a marked contrast to more lenient U.S. regulation – has sparked an industry pushback, particularly by U.S. tech titans, and led to criticism from the administration of U. S. President Donald Trump. The European Commission said that the investigation will look into Meta’s new policy that would limit other AI providers’ access to WhatsApp, a potential boost for its own Meta AI system integrated into the platform earlier this year.
EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said the move was to prevent dominant firms from “abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors”. She added interim measures could be imposed to block Meta’s new WhatsApp AI policy rollout. “AI markets are booming in Europe and beyond,” she said. This is why we are investigating if Meta’s new policy might be illegal under competition rules, and whether we should act quickly to prevent any possible irreparable harm to competition in the AI space.”
A WhatsApp spokesperson called the claims “baseless”, adding that the emergence of chatbots on its platforms had put a “strain on our systems that they were not designed to support”, a reference to AI systems from other providers. “Still, the AI space is highly competitive and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems.” The EU was the first in the world to establish a comprehensive legal framework for AI, setting out guardrails for AI systems and rules for certain high-risk applications in the AI Act.
Meta AI, a chatbot and virtual assistant, has been built into WhatsApp’s interface across European markets since March. The Commission said a new policy fully applicable from January 15, 2026, may block competing AI providers from reaching customers via the platform. Ribera said the probe came on the back of complaints from small AI developers about the WhatsApp policy. The Interaction Company of California, which has developed AI assistant Poke.com, has taken its grievance to the EU competition enforcer. Spanish AI startup Luzia has also talked to the Commission, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Marvin von Hagen, co-founder and CEO of The Interaction Company of California, said if Meta was allowed to roll out its new policy, “millions of European consumers will be deprived of the possibility of enjoying new and innovative AI assistants”. Meta also risks a fine of as much as 10% of its global annual turnover if found guilty of breaching EU antitrust rules.
Italy’s antitrust watchdog opened a parallel investigation in July into allegations that Meta leveraged its market power by integrating an AI tool into WhatsApp, expanding the probe in November to examine whether Meta further abused its dominance by blocking rival AI chatbots from the messaging platform. The antitrust probe is a more traditional means of investigation than the EU’s Digital Markets Act, the bloc’s landmark legislation currently used to scrutinize Amazon’s and Microsoft’s cloud services for potential curbs. Reuters
The spouses and children of billionaires inherited more wealth in 2025 than in any previous year since reporting began in 2015, according to UBS’s Billionaire Ambitions Report published on Thursday. In the 12 months to April, 91 people became billionaires through inheritance, collectively receiving $298 billion, up more than a third from 2024, the Swiss bank said. “These heirs are proof of a multi-year wealth transfer that’s intensifying,” UBS executive Benjamin Cavalli said.
The report is based on a survey of some of UBS’s super-rich clients and a database that tracks the wealth of billionaires across 47 markets in all world regions. At least $5.9 trillion will be inherited by billionaire children over the next 15 years, the bank calculates.
Most of this inheritance growth is set to take place in the United States, with India, France, Germany and Switzerland next on the list, UBS estimated. However, billionaires are highly mobile, especially younger ones, which could change that picture, it added. The search for a better quality of life, geopolitical concerns and tax considerations are driving decisions to relocate, according to the report.
In Switzerland, where $206 billion will be inherited over the next 15 years according to the bank, voters on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected 50 per cent tax on inherited fortunes of $62 million or more, after critics said it could trigger an exodus of wealthy people.
Switzerland, the UAE, the U.S. and Singapore are among billionaires’ preferred destinations, UBS’s Cavalli said. “In Switzerland, Sunday’s vote may have helped to increase the country’s appeal again,” he said. Reuters
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