January 10, (THEWILL) – General Hydrocarbons Limited, operators of OML 120, Deep Offshore Nigeria, has urged its customers and partners to remain calm as it seeks to resolve a dispute with First Bank of Nigeria Limited through legal and arbitration channels.
The call for calm comes in the wake of a Federal High Court ruling allowing FBN to freeze the accounts and assets of GHL, its affiliates, and prominent stakeholders over allegations of unpaid loans amounting to $225.8 million.
However, GHL disclosed that it had earlier secured a court order protecting its operations pending the determination of the dispute, which is currently subject to arbitration.
In a statement signed on Friday by Nduka Obaigbena, Chairman of GHL’s Board, the company said, “At the request of First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FBN), we reached a Subrogation Agreement following the bank’s non-performing loans, which had become a systemic risk. FBN was to finance the exploration, development, and operations of OML 120, with both parties sharing profits. First Bank’s share was to be used to liquidate its non-performing loans.”
The statement alleged that FirstBank failed to fulfill its obligations under the Subrogation and Tripartite Agreements, leading to the current challenges.
“We are in court and arbitration to resolve our differences and have obtained a court order securing our operations pending determination. Unfortunately, First Bank continues to disregard and disobey the subsisting court judgment in favor of GHL, choosing instead to mislead the public. Our legal team is addressing this breach in the appropriate forum,”Obaigbena said.
GHL emphasized its stability and capacity to meet financial obligations, highlighting its strong asset base and contributions to Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
“As the only wholly Nigerian-owned company operating in Deep Offshore Nigeria, our campaign has discovered significant oil and gas reserves, thanks to the ingenuity of Nigerian engineers and our technical partners, including Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, and Century Group,” the statement read.
GHL assured its stakeholders that it remains a going concern, committed to its obligations and the advancement of Nigeria’s energy sector.
“We call on our valued partners to remain calm as we work through the courts, arbitration, or mediation to address differences in strategy, not in form or substance. Through our collaboration, we have resolved FBN’s financial challenges and discovered crude oil for Nigeria. We believe justice and reason will ultimately prevail,” the company added.
As of press time, First Bank of Nigeria Limited had not officially responded to the claims made by GHL.
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