Objections to Shell-Renaissance deal to be resolved soon, says presidential aide

Olu Verheijen, special adviser to the president on energy, says the issues around Shell’s proposed sale of its onshore assets to Renaissance, a consortium of local companies will be resolved soon.

“I am sure that in short order it will be resolved with the regulator in a way that addresses our own objectives to continue to accelerate exits for international oil companies,” Verheijen said during a call with the energy reporters’ association on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg.

On January 16, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) announced plans to sell its Nigerian onshore oil assets to a consortium of local companies for over $1.3 billion.

The consortium, known as Renaissance, is formed by local firms including ND Western, Aradel Energy, First Exploration & Production (E&P), Waltersmith, and Petrolin.

On October 21, Gbenga Komolafe, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), had said the federal government approved four divestment deals.

The four deals that received ministerial consent were Eni’s divestment of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) to Oando Plc, and Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited’s divestment to Project Odinmin Investments Limited.

Others are the TotalEnergies-Telema Energies deal and ExxonMobil’s sale of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) to Seplat Energy.

However, Komolafe said the divestment of Shell’s assets to Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited could not scale regulatory test.

Speaking during the call, Verheijen told journalists that Nigeria’s government wants to ensure that smaller companies that take over fields from major oil producers are able to invest adequately.

“For the independents who are coming in onshore, we want to make sure that they align with our objectives of rapidly growing production,” she said.

The special adviser said there is a need “to ensure that there is a technical and financial capacity and that some of the obligations that need to be addressed are being addressed”.