January 27, 2010: 08:08 AM ET
ABUJA, Nigeria -(Dow Jones)- Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) and Chevron Corp. ( CVX) will soon renew oil leases with the Nigerian government despite uncertainty caused by the absence of the country’s President, a senior government official said late Tuesday.
“Shell and Chevron have some outstanding issues they’re trying to resolve, but definitely the renewal is sure,” Emmanuel Egbogah, Special Adviser to the President on Petroleum Matters, said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires. ” We’re quite confident that there’s not going to be a problem of non-renewal.”
Egbogah would not elaborate on the specific issues holding the renewals up, but said “they are not serious.”
Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua has been in Saudi Arabia receiving medical treatment since Nov. 23, but his absence has not affected renewal negotiations, Egbogah said.
Either way, “the president will be home soon,” said Egbogah.
ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) signed a renewal deal for leases of four oil fields in December 2009, for 20 years with an option to renew.
-By Will Connors – +234-708-246-0459 – [email protected]
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-27-10 0808ET
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