Page 7 - AfrOil Week 13 2022

AfrOil COMMENTARY AfrOil

Amid pressure, predominantly from the UAE, a They also said there was a feeling that alter-
compromise was reached among member coun- native options may be under consideration,
tries in July 2021 to allow the quota reference including a one-off uptick in output from Saudi
levels for the top producers to be eased. Arabia and the UAE.
A deal was agreed for the baselines of the two The market is clearly ready for more produc-
top producers, Saudi and Russia, to increase tion, but the top OPEC producers will be wary
by 500,000 bpd to 11.5mn bpd each, with the of eating into their spare supply at a time when
UAE’s rising by 332,000 bpd to 3.5mn bpd as they may be called upon to provide larger vol-
Iraq and Kuwait also receive uplifts of 150,000 umes to compensate for a potential loss of more
bpd each, taking their baselines to 4.803mn bpd Russian supplies.
and 2.959mn bpd respectively. Having worked so hard to improve condi-
However, given uncertainty about Russian tions for exporters, Saudi Arabia in particular
and Kazakh crude, delegates speaking on con- will retain its cautious stance as it seeks to main-
dition of anonymity told various publications tain its position as the de-facto leader of the oil
this week that there is a careful balancing act to industry, with much of its power emanating
be done. from that spare capacity. ™

INVESTMENT
Akwa Ibom aims to block ExxonMobil’s

sale of MPNU stake to Seplat Energy

NIGERIA THE government of Nigeria’s Akwa Ibom state
has filed a counter-claim against ExxonMobil
(US) in a bid to block the super-major’s planned
sale of its stake in the Mobil Producing Nigeria
Unlimited (MPNU) joint venture to a local com-
pany, Seplat Energy.
Details of the new legal initiative came to
light at the weekend, with a state official telling
the press that the sale might not go forward until
the new suit, which was filed in response to an
ongoing case related to the revocation of certifi-
cates of occupancy, was settled.
According to a report from Vanguard, Akwa
Ibom’s State Attorney-General and Commis-
sioner for Justice Essien Udom noted that the
original case was still pending. Since that case
concerns MPNU assets that may belong to
Akwa Ibom, ExxonMobil should not be in a
position to proceed with the sale, he argued.
The state government is seeking an order to Seplat will acquire ExxonMobil’s stakes in four Nigerian blocks (Image: ExxonMobil)
block the deal, Udom added, adding that the
decision to sell had thoroughly upset relations wholly owned subsidiary Seplat Energy had
between the state government and ExxonMobil. agreed to pay $1.283bn for ExxonMobil’s entire
“The attempt to sell its asset, some of which may shallow water portfolio in Nigeria, which con-
include assets belonging to Akwa Ibom state, is sists of MPNU’s 40% stakes in OML 67, OML
rather upsetting. Mobil has been in Akwa Ibom 68, OML 70 and OML 104.
State for several years and the relationship has Subsequently, local news agencies reported
been very good until recently,” he said. that the national oil company (NOC), Nigerian
Udom also complained that ExxonMobil had National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC), which holds
not properly informed the state government of the remaining 60% of equity in the blocks, had
its intentions. “Mobil has not formerly informed exercised its right to pre-empt the acquisition.
the state government that they are selling off Seplat later denied that report, though.
and leaving. Everything we heard was from the As a result of the acquisition, Seplat will see
media, which is most irresponsible for any cor- its net production rise to about 146,000 boepd,
porate citizen. There has been no direct contact up from the 2020 level of 51,000 boepd. It will
with us,” he declared. also see its proven and probable (2P) reserves
Seplat announced in late February that its climb to 945mn boe, up by around 89%. ™

Week 13 30•March•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P7