‘We’re resolving the issues’ — Lokpobiri addresses delay in ExxonMobil, Eni divestments

Heineken Lokpobiri, the minister of state for petroleum resources (oil), said the federal government is handling the divestment of international oil companies (IOCs) on a case-by-case basis.

Lokpobiri, in an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday, addressed concerns on the delay experienced by ExxonMobil and Eni in selling their assets to domestic oil firms — Seplat and Oando, respectively.

He said the government has assured that there would not be any bottlenecks in resolving some of the issues around divestments.

Seplat had announced an agreement in February 2022 for the acquisition of ExxonMobil’s entire share in its shallow water business — Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU).

But more than a year later, the government has not approved the deal, as such transactions are often subject to ministerial consents and other regulatory greenlights.

Also, Oando, in September 2023, disclosed that it had signed a deal to acquire 100 percent of Eni’s shares in Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOC Ltd). 

Days after Oando announced the deal, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited said it could lead to legal issues, as Eni and Oando overlooked certain terms in their joint operating agreement.

Speaking during the interview, Lokpobiri the issues are being addressed and will be resolved.

“These things are taken by case-by-case basis; Shell will come, Chevron will come – as they come, we are dealing with them, and we are not going to waste time in dealing with them – they will resolve it, all those problems,” he said.

“Most of the IOCs are interested in going into deep offshore and you know there is also a lot of local capacity now.

“So in most of the onshore and shallow waters, you see the local companies, which are quite a number – they are over 29 now – are also showing capacity to be able to manage those assets locally.”

The minister assured that while the government is handling the cases one at a time, foreign oil companies would not experience bottlenecks.