The federal government has officially approved ExxonMobil’s $1.28 billion divestment of its oil and gas assets to Seplat Energy, a key development in a transaction first announced in February 2022.
This deal is set to significantly boost Seplat’s oil production, increasing it to over 130,000 barrels per day—almost four times its current output.
The announcement was made by Gbenga Komolafe, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), during the commission’s third anniversary celebration and the launch of its Project 1MMBOPD Initiative.
Komolafe noted that the ExxonMobil approval was among four divestment approvals granted by the federal government out of five applications submitted.
“We are happy today to announce the status of divestment exercise conducted diligently by the Commission in line with the provisions of the PIA. Out of the total of five divestment applications for consent received by the Commission, a total of four, representing 80 per cent passed regulatory test and secured ministerial consent.
“The transactions are: Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) to Seplat Energy Offshore Limited; Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited to Project Odinmin Investments Limited; Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited to Oando Petroleum and Natural Gas Company Limited and TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited to Telema Energies Nigeria Limited.”
He, however, said that the divestment of Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited’s assets to Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited could not scale regulatory test.
