More facts have emerged on why the planned acquisition of shallow water assets of Mobil Producing Unlimited, Nigeria (MPNU) is delayed.
Seplat, an indigenous energy company, had in February sealed an agreement to acquire the entire share capital of MPNU from Exxon Mobil Corporation.
The transaction, which is subject to ministerial consent and other required regulatory approvals, is a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the entire share capital of MPNU for a purchase price of $1.28 million, plus up to $300 million contingent consideration.
Chief Executive Officer, Seplat Energy Plc, Mr. Roger Brown, while reviewing the company’s unaudited results for the three months ended 31 March 2022, said the parties are still “awaiting the necessary approvals from government and regulators.”
He, however, said the “proposed acquisition of MPNU remains on course,” adding that the deal is expected to be completed in the second half of 2022.
He said: “Our proposed acquisition of MPNU remains on course. We are awaiting the necessary approvals from government and regulators and expect the transaction to complete in the second half of this year.
“The effective date of January 1, 2021 means we will benefit from higher recent oil prices and as we have previously reported, the addition of MPNU will nearly treble our production and double our reserves on a pro forma 2020 basis.
“The acquisition will reinforce our leadership of Nigeria’s indigenous energy sector and enabling us to generate strong future cash flows that will underpin our investment in Nigeria’s energy transition and improve our overall stakeholder returns.
“It will also bring a significant undeveloped gas resource base which, alongside our ANOH gas project development, will underpin Nigeria’s energy transition and drive domestic and export revenues when developed,” he said.
He added that the company delivered a good quarter that benefited from higher oil pricing, which offset lower production owing to continuing problems with the Trans Forcados Pipeline.
“However, the alternative Amukpe-Escravos pipeline is mechanically complete and once we have signed the commercial agreements, we expect Chevron to be lifting our oil through the Escravos Terminal in the third quarter,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the company has declared an improved revenue by 58.6 per cent to N100.6 billion in its unaudited results for the three months ended 31 March 2022. Seplat said it grew the revenue from N57.9 billion year-on-year.
According to the report, its gross profit soared to N48.8 billion from N20.1billion year-on-year, rising by 122.3 per cent. The company recorded a rise in profit before tax by 197.8 per cent to N34.7 billion from N10.6 billion year-on-year.
Seplat also generated cash from its operations to the tune of N74.4 billion from N1.7 billion year-on-year, rising by 197.8 per cent.
