A force majeure declared by oil giant ExxonMobil on Qua Iboe Terminal over gas flaring has cut off 70% of Akwa Ibom’s revenue, the state has announced.
Finance commissioner Linus Nkan said on Friday that tougher days lay ahead for the state.
A force majeure is unforeseeable circumstances that prevent a company or someone from fulfilling a contract.
The oil firm declared the force majeure in December after one person was killed, the incident linked to gas flaring.
He however explained that according to the notification of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the force majeure declared by the company would only affect the revenue shared in March 2021 by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
He stated that it is a practice that the proceeds of oil produced in December is shared in March.
“It affected this month that the report came, that is how we know. I don’t know if it will affect future months. We pray it should not affect any other month,” he said.
Corroborating the government position, ExxonMobil’s manager of media and communications, Oge Udeagha stated, “I can confirm that the most recent force majeure was lifted in mid-January, 2021,” he said.
Meanwhile, the reported revenue decline has caused public frenzy and apprehension on what the future holds for workers entitlements especially as government has said it would affect its’ ability to meet its monthly financial obligations to public servants, pensioners and contractors.
