Page 13 - AfrOil Week 49 2022

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

Nigeria’s Supreme Court says Shell, NNPCL

can appeal judgment on Rivers oil spill

NIGERIA THE Supreme Court of Nigeria has said that two onshore portfolio in Nigeria. The company has
shareholders in Shell Petroleum Development said it wants to unload these assets as part of a
(SPDC) may appeal against a judgment that wider effort to optimise its portfolio and reduce
requires the joint venture to pay out NGN800bn carbon dioxide emissions.
($1.8bn) in compensation for spills at its facili- Divestment might also make the company
ties in Rivers State in February 2018 and Sep- up to $2-3bn richer. However, sources with
tember 2019. knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg in
The court authorised Shell (UK) and Nige- June that the asset’s valuation might be affected
rian National Petroleum Co. Ltd (NNPCL) by expectations of future costs related to envi-
to take this step on December 2. It did so in ronmental penalties and litigation.
response to an application that the two com- Equity in the SPDC joint venture is currently
panies had submitted challenging the federal split between Nigerian National Petroleum Co.
court’s ruling in November 2020 in favour Ltd (NNPC Ltd), with 55%; Shell, with 30%;
of the residents of affected Niger River Delta France’s TotalEnergies, with 10%; and Italy’s Eni,
communities. with 5%. ™
As of press time, neither Shell nor NNPCL
had said when they expected to move ahead
with a formal appeal in court. However, a
spokesperson for Shell told Bloomberg by email
that she appreciated the court’s decision.
“We believe in the merits of our case and are
encouraged that the Nigerian Supreme Court
is hearing this matter,” a spokeswoman for the
Shell subsidiary was quoted as saying. “We look
forward to the hearing of our main appeal.”
Shell, which has been active in Nigeria since
the 1930s, has been trying to unload its 30%
stake in SPDC for some time. It began discus-
sions with officials in Abuja on the sale of the
asset last year but put its plans on hold in the
summer of 2022, deferring to Nigerian laws that
do not allow privatisation deals to be completed
while legal disputes are still pending.
A sale would allow Shell to shed most of its Shell’s plans to sell 30% of SPDC have been held up by the lawsuit (Image: Shell)

PROJECTS & COMPANIES
Zimbabwe set for financial windfall if gas

find is monetised, Invictus partner says

ZIMBABWE THE Zimbabwean partner of ASX-listed Invic- project has the potential to impact the national
tus Energy has said that if ongoing natural gas budget, which has been constrained by a 21-year
exploration leads to a commercial discovery and economic decline.
development, the southern African country will “The production share agreement envisions
pocket about 60% of revenue. that the government of Zimbabwe takes at least
Paul Chimbodza, a shareholder in Geo 55% to 60% of the total value of the project,”
Associates, Invictus’ Zimbabwean subsidiary, Chimbodza was quoted as saying by New Zim-
told local publication New Zimbabwe that the babwe on Tuesday, December 6.

Week 49 08•December•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P13