The Federal Government of Nigeria has declined to approve Shell’s $2.4 billion divestment of its onshore and shallow water assets to the local consortium, Renaissance. These assets include around 6.73 billion barrels of crude oil and condensate, along with 56.27 trillion cubic feet of gas.
This announcement was made by Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), during an event marking the NUPRC’s three-year anniversary. Komolafe did not specify the reasons behind the government’s decision to block the Shell-Renaissance deal but emphasized the government’s commitment to ensuring compliance with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in all transactions.
While the Shell deal was blocked, Komolafe confirmed that four other divestment applications had been approved, including ExxonMobil’s sale of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited to Seplat Energy, along with deals involving Equinor’s Project Odinmim, Agip’s sale to Oando, and TotalEnergies’ 10 percent divestment to Telema Energies. These approvals were granted ministerial consent as part of the government’s efforts to ensure transparent divestment processes in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
