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The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, on Sunday, said it would prepay future royalties and taxes to the Federal Government from the $3.3bn financing deal it got from African Export-Import Bank last year. NNPCL disclosed this in a document titled, ‘Frequently Asked Questions – Project Gazelle’, released by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, on Sunday night. On August 17, 2023, The PUNCH reported that the NNPCL announced that it had secured a $3.3bn emergency crude oil repayment loan from the African Export-Import Bank. It explained that the loan would be used by the oil company to support the Federal Government in stabilising Nigeria’s exchange rate. Providing more details about the deal on Sunday night in the document, the oil company said, “Everything you need to know about the NNPC Limited’s $3.3bn loan, also known as Project Gazelle. There has been a lot of interest from the public and stakeholders in recent weeks regarding the $3.3bn crude oil pre-payment loan, also known as Project Gazelle. This is a financing agreement secured by NNPC Limited to prepay future royalties and taxes to the Federal Government.” The company also stated that it adopted a lower price benchmark for the $3.3bn crude-for-cash loan.

Punch