Nigerian oil regulator 'optimistic' on Exxon asset sale to Seplat (updated)
11/10/2023 11:01
(Adds background in paragraphs 5-7)
By Wendell Roelf
CAPE TOWN, Oct 11 (Reuters) - The head of Nigeria's oil
regulator said he is "very optimistic" that oil major Exxon
Mobil's XOM.N asset sale to Seplat Energy SEPLAT.LG can move
forward, he told Reuters on Wednesday.
The regulator last year refused to approve the $1.28 billion
sale, which some in the industry say is key to getting
much-needed investment into Nigeria's oil and gas sector.
"We are very optimistic that parties to the transaction will
go back, look at the position of the regulator and come back by
abiding by the provisions of Nigerian laws and the right thing
will be done," Gbenga Komolafe, chief executive of the Nigerian
Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), told Reuters
on the sidelines of an African energy conference.
Komolafe said that Exxon "did not route the transaction" in
line with the provisions of its joint operating agreement, but
said that once Exxon had made proper agreements with its
joint-venture partners in the assets, "the regulator will do
what it needs to."
State oil company NNPC had also opposed the sale, arguing it
had pre-emptive rights to the assets. NNPC has not publicly
commented on whether it made an offer to buy the assets.
Nigeria, Africa's largest oil exporter, relies on
petroleum for 90% of its foreign exchange, and half its budget.
But production has declined in recent years due to years of
underinvestment and theft. Several international oil majors are
looking to sell onshore assets, but those deals have run into
legal and regulatory hurdles.
Last month, NNPC said a subsidiary of Italy's Eni
ENI.MI did not obtain its consent prior to announcing a deal
to sell onshore oil assets to local company Oando OANDO.LG , a
failure that it said could have breached terms of a joint
operating agreement.
(Reporting by Wendell Roelf, writing by Libby George, Editing
by Louise Heavens)
((Libby.George@thomsonreuters.com; +44 07527 061331; Reuters
Messaging: libby.george@thomsonreuters.com))