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AfrOil COMMENTARY AfrOil
ExxonMobil facing new obstacles to MPNU sale
Is this sale still in the pipeline? (Photo: Seplat Energy)
NUPRC challenges Buhari’s approval of previously agreed deal that would transfer the US super-major’s shallow-water Nigerian portfolio to a local firm, Seplat Energy
WHAT:
Buhari’s attempt to remove roadblocks to the sale of a 40% stake in MPNU has led NUPRC to assert its own authority.
WHY:
This is not the first time the proposed deal has run into obstacles.
WHAT NEXT:
Seplat’s plans for expan- sion remain on hold.
EXXONMOBIL (US) has once again run into obstacles in its attempt to sell its stake in the Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) joint venture to a local company, Seplat Energy.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari sought on August 8 to remove all previous road- blocks by using his statutory authority as min- ister of petroleum resources to approve the US super-major’s plan for divesting its 40% holding in MPNU. By issuing a document of ministerial consent, he thus gave a green light to the agree- ment struck between ExxonMobil and Seplat Energy earlier this year.
Under that deal, Seplat Energy Offshore Ltd, a subsidiary of the Nigerian firm, pledged to pay $1.283bn, plus up to $300mn in contingent consideration, to Mobil Development Nigeria Inc. (MDNI) and Mobil Exploration Nigeria
Inc. (MENI), the two US-registered Exxon- Mobil subsidiaries that held the MPNU stake. In return, it expected to receive ExxonMobil’s entire shallow water portfolio in Nigeria, con- sisting of MPNU’s 40% stakes in OML 67, OML 68, OML 70 and OML 104.
Buhari announced his decision in a statement and declared that he had instructed Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva to inform MPNU’s other stakeholder – govern- ment-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Co. Ltd (NNPC Ltd), which has the other 60% of the joint venture – of the sale. Bulhari also said he had notified the relevant government agencies of the move, including the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC)
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 32 11•August•2022