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According to Lagos-based Africa Finance Corp. Aiteo blaming Shell for “wrongful actions” over
(AFC), the Nigerian banking system could take the loans.
a serious hit if payments are not made, due to Aiteo has also claimed that the lenders
what was dubbed by the institution as “system- were legally obliged to agree on a new repay-
atically important” loans. AFC administers the ment schedule due to “events of force majeure,”
financial agreement between Aiteo and the including oil theft and pipeline leaks.
creditors. Aiteo is owned by multi-billionaire Benedict
Since the initial default, the case has been Peters and is Africa’s largest indigenous oil-pro-
heard in courts in both the UK and Nigeria, with ducing firm. ™

Sonangol names buyers of

stakes in six offshore blocks

ANGOLA SONANGOL, the national oil company (NOC) it was unloading the stakes as part of an ongoing
of Angola, reported last week that it had finished effort to streamline and optimise its investment
selling off portions of its equity holdings in six portfolio in advance of its upcoming partial pri-
offshore blocks. vatisation via an initial public offering (IPO).
In a statement, Sonangol noted that four of The NOC’s announcement was hailed
the blocks in question were covered by explora- by Douglas Rycroft, director of the Edin-
tion licences. It said that it had assigned a 20% burgh-based consultancy Gneiss Energy.
stake in Block 3/05 to AIM-listed Afentra; a 10% “Sonangol’s announcement was keenly awaited,
stake in Block 15/06 to a consortium formed by with several smaller firms looking to make
local company Petrolog, UK-based Sequa and game-changing moves,” Rycroft told NewsBase
National Petroleum Corp. of Namibia (NAM- earlier this week. “In the end, most of these
COR); a 10% stake in Block 31 to local firm came up short, with domestic firms Somoil and
Somoil and UK-based Sirius; and an 8.5% stake Petrolog and Nambia’s NAMCOR featuring
in Block 18 to Somoil and Sirius. heavily, as Sonangol prioritised prior local expe-
As for the other two blocks covered by pro- rience. The markets will be cheered, though,
duction licences, the NOC said it had chosen that London-based Afentra, Sequa and Sirius all
more than one investor for each project. It picked up stakes.” ™
explained that it had assigned a 40% non-op-
erating stake in Block 23 to Afentra and a 40%
operating stake in the same block to the consor-
tium formed by NAMCOR, Petrolog and Sequa,
while also assigning stakes of 25% and 35% in
Block 27 to the Somoil-Sirius alliance and to the
NAMCOR-Petrolog-Sequa group, respectively.
Sonangol went on to say that it had chosen
these bidders as the winners of the limited public
tenders for the partial sale of its holdings in these
blocks because their offers had come closest to
matching the conditions of the sale. It also said The NOC sold stakes in six blocks (Photo: Sonangol)

Afentra named as top bidder for

stakes in Block 3/05, Block 23

ANGOLA AIM-LISTED Afentra has been named by a In a statement dated April 11, Afentra con-
subsidiary of Angola’s national oil company firmed its selection by Sonangol EP, saying that
(NOC) Sonangol as the top bidder for stakes in it had been identified as the preferred bidder for
two offshore assets, Block 3/05 and Block 23. equity stakes in both blocks.

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 15 13•April•2022