The federal government has finally approved Seplat Energy’s acquisition of Exxon Mobil’s onshore assets valued at $1.28bn.
The approval was confirmed by the chief executive officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe on Monday.
Earlier, President Bola Tinubu had indicated on October 1 that the final approval would be granted within days, as it is only awaiting ministerial approval.
Reacting on Monday, Komolafe while speaking at the NUPRC’s 3rd Anniversary event in Abuja said that the ministerial approval had now been secured.
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The approval comes more than two years after the deal was announced in February 2022, signaling a prolonged regulatory delay.
With the secured approval, Seplat Energy will acquire a 40 per cent stake in four Oil Mining Leases (OMLs)
The company will also get key infrastructure, including the Qua Iboe export terminal and a 51 per cent stake in the Bonny River natural gas liquids recovery plant, both previously owned by Exxon’s local subsidiary, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited.
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Other divestments that were approved include Eni’s divestment of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) to Oando Plc, Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited’s divestment to Project Odinmin Investments Limited, and TotalEnergies-Telema Energies
However, he said the divestment of Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited’s assets to Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited could not scale regulatory test.
“Currently, we have processed four of the transactions and four of them have received ministerial consent,” he said.
“The four transactions are the transactions in respect of Equinor–Project Odinmim. That has been recommended by the regulator in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act and it has received ministerial consent.
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“Also, the transaction in respect of Agip to Oando, that has equally been processed in line with the established regulatory pillars and that has equally received ministerial consent and that has been communicated accordingly.
“Also, a transaction in respect to ExxonMobil-Seplat has equally successfully been recommended by the regulator and I am happy to announce that has received ministerial consent. Also, a transaction in respect of 10 percent divestment by TotalEnergies (to Telema Energies) has equally been completed by the regulator and has received ministerial consent.
“All in all, out of the five major divestment transactions that were referred to the commission for processing, the commission for the first time in history ensured that robust regulatory framework was established in line with the PIA.”
Komolafe said the process has been institutionalised through regulation, adding that the commission diligently processed all the transactions.
