The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) is in talks with an undisclosed lender for a loan estimated at $2 billion.
Its Group CEO, Mele Kyari, told Reuters that the credit would be taken against 30,000 to 35,000 barrels per day of crude production, though he declined to say how much money it wants.
Reuters reported multiple sources familiar with the situation said the oil firm plans to raise at least $2 billion.
This would increase the company’s crude-backed loan portfolio within one year to at least $5.3 billion, after the NNPC secured a $3.3 billion credit from the Afrexim Bank in August 2023.
The Afrexim Bank loan is a five-year facility secured with 90,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude.
Kyari said the new loan would enable him to run the NNPC smoothly.
“We have no problem covering our petrol payments. This is just money for normal business and not a desperate act,” he told Reuters.
The disclosure is coming as petrol queues surfaced across Nigeria this week.
Marketers blamed it on an increase in the price at which they buy petrol from depots which would cause them to lose money if they resell at the capped pump price.
But the NNPC said the fuel shortage was caused by its suspension of ship-to-shore discharge because of thunderstorms and heavy rains in Lagos.
