The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, on Thursday, announced the signing of an agreement that will transfer ExxonMobil’s stake in Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) to Seplat Energy Plc.
According to a statement released on Thursday by NNPC, the agreement involves MPNU, Mobil Development Nigeria Inc. and Mobil Exploration Nigeria Inc.
“Settlement agreement between NNPC Ltd. and Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Mobil Development Nigeria Inc., and Mobil Exploration Nigeria Inc. signed regarding the proposed divestment of a 100% interest in Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited to Seplat Energy Offshore Limited,” NNPC stated.
This agreement follows a directive from President Bola Tinubu to the Ministry of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) and the NNPCL on May 28 to resolve the divestment issue between Seplat and ExxonMobil that had lingered for over two years.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri stated, “Mr President has given a clear directive to the NNPC GCEO and I to resolve the issue of divestment, and we are doing whatever we can to achieve that.”
The minister had earlier disclosed that Nigeria lost $34 billion in the last two and a half years due to the fall in production from the assets being divested by ExxonMobil to Seplat Energy, as assets declined from 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) to current 120,000bpd, leaving a shortfall of 480,000bpd, which he said amounted to $34 billion loss at a conservative $80 per barrels, in the last two and a half years.
In February 2022, Seplat announced an agreement to acquire ExxonMobil’s 40% stake in MPNU, expecting the transaction to be consummated later that year. However, on May 19, 2022, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Company (NUPRC) rejected Seplat’s proposed acquisition, citing overriding national interest.
A couple of months later, it was alleged that the NNPCL had secured a court injunction preventing ExxonMobil from selling its assets in Nigeria. This led to former President Muhammadu Buhari reversing his initial authorization for the acquisition on August 10, 2022, shortly after he had earlier approved it.
With the signing of this agreement, Nigeria hopes to reap at least 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) to its current daily crude oil production volume, projected to hit about two million bpd before the end of the year.