Oil major, TotalEnergies, has confirmed it is selling off its 10 per cent stake in the Nigerian Joint Venture with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
This entails disposing of her interest in 13 onshore fields and three in shallow water, which produces over 20,000 barrels of oil daily. The sale also includes infrastructure such as 3,500 kilometres of pipelines connecting to two key crude export terminals- Bonny and Forcados. Canada’s Scotiabank is said to be leading the sale as financial adviser.
TotalEnergies, a French firm, however, opted to keep Oil Mining Licences (OML) 23 and 28 and its interest in the associated gas pipeline network that feeds Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas.
Shell holds a 30 per cent working interest in SPDC, NNPC 55 per cent and Eni has five per cent. Shell is also selling its stake in SPDC but these efforts are being hindered as a result of pending litigation.
It would be recalled that in the recent past, multinational oil firms have been exiting the country’s onshore production, a development they hinge on years of sabotage and theft leading to degradation of assets across the oil-rich Delta region.
