The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) on Wednesday announced the completion of all regulatory processes for the assets sale between Eni’s Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) as well as that between Equinor and Chappal.
The chief executive of NUPRC, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, disclosed this on the final day of the NOG Energy Week in Abuja and said the signing ceremonies for the two concluded deals would come up in a few days.
The regulator also stated that documents submitted by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in its $2.4 billion deal were undergoing due diligence by the commission, pending approval.
On the Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) and Seplat $2.4 billion oil assets’ sale, Mr Komolafe, explained that the latter opted for ministerial consent before finalising pending issues with the commission.
In November last year, the Norwegian state-owned multinational energy company, Equinor, said it had inked a deal with Nigerian-owned Chappal Energies, allowing the latter to acquire its business in Africa’s biggest oil producer.
The transaction included Equinor Nigeria Energy Company’s 20.2 per cent stake in Chevron-operated Agbami, the country’s largest deep-water oilfields. Equinor holds a 53.9 per cent interest in oil & gas lease OMLs 128 and 129.
Also, in August 2023, Oando Plc reached an agreement with Eni on the acquisition of a 100 per cent stake in its subsidiary, Agip.
The transaction is expected to expand Oando’s current participating interests in oil mining leases (OMLs) 60, 61, 62, and 63, from 20 per cent to 40 per cent.
Mr Komolafe added, “As a matter of fact, I find it necessary to announce here this afternoon, how we are always very willing to inform the industry about the status of our activities. So, as regards the status of the four divestments, the first, the Oando divestment, I’m happy to announce that the exercise has been completed, as I speak to you, and the signing ceremony will be conducted in a few days.
“In a likewise manner, the divestment involving Equinor and Chappal is equally completed and the signing ceremony will be conducted in the coming days, equally. So, we can celebrate that.
“As regards the divestment of SPDC to the group for renaissance, the status is that the regulator has received the documentation and the transaction is currently underway in the industry. So, we hope that it will be gradually positioned to be announced in a few months.
“Then, regarding the divestment, the transaction involving Mobil and Seplat, currently, the company has expressed commitment to proceed to apply for ministerial consent to conclude the documentation to the commission.
“So, the position I’m expressing here is that the NUPRC, as the regulator, as we speak, is yet to receive the documentation for due diligence in respect of Mobil and Seplat transaction.”
He added that whereas Nigeria’s oil rig count fell to as low as eight in 2021, it had recently soared to as many as 34 as of June 24, underscoring the increasing activities in the upstream sector.
On the commission’s high-impact achievements, the NUPRC chief executive stated that it conducted an industry-wide integrated study on the re-activation of shut-in strings in Nigeria to unlock 700,000 barrels per day while approvals were granted for well interventions and re-entry operations with the potential to develop greater than six million barrels of oil and five trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas.
Komolafe added that NUPRC approved field development plans for additional production from four fields with a peak potential of circa 125 thousand barrels of oil per day.