LAGOS, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Nigeria has reached an "outlinesettlement" worth $5 billion with five oil majors to coveroutstanding payments for joint exploration and production, theFinancial Times said on Tuesday.
The OPEC member's state oil firm NNPC has over years piledup unpaid bills, so-called cash calls, that it was obliged topay under joint ventures with Western oil firms, with which itexplores for and produces oil.
Nigerian Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said Royal DutchShell, Exxon Mobil, Italy's ENI,Chevron and France's Total had "accepted" the$5 billion deal, according to the FT's website.
Shell and Chevron declined to comment in response toenquiries by Reuters. The others were yet to respond.
The payments would be made in the form of new oilproduction, the FT said, quoting the minister and "people closeto Western companies". There would also be a one-off cashpayment.
The agreement would hopefully be finalised by the end of theyear and cover the period from 2010 to 2015, the paper said.
Kachikwu has been trying to reduce the financial obligationsfor more than a year.
The delay in payments has hindered oil and gas investment inthe West African nation and worsened a budget crisis as thegovernment seeks to increase spending to drag Africa's biggesteconomy out of recession.
Nigeria's oil and gas output had been relatively stagnantfor years, until militants started a wave of attacks in Januaryto fight for a greater share of oil revenues. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing, LIbby George and Dmitry Zhdannikov;Editing by Dale Hudson)