The Nigerian government, through the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), says it has approved four out of five divestment requests from international oil companies to sell their assets......KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE👈
The development indicates a significant move towards easing investment and operational changes in the country’s oil industry.
FG strengthens outdated regulatory processes
The chief executive officer of NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, disclosed the approval on Monday, October 21, 2024, at the launch of Project One Million Barrels Per Day Production in Abuja.
The NUPRC boss seized the occasion to celebrate the agency’s three-year regulatory overhaul of the upstream sector.
In his keynote address, Komolafe disclosed that the commission has leveraged the Petroleum Industry Act to end outdated regulatory processes and exploitation limitations.
The list of affected companies
Punch reported that Komolafe revealed the development in the divestments of IOCs, saying that the agency received about five divestment requests.
The approved requests are Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited to Seplat Energy Offshore Limited, Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited to Project Odinmin Investment Limited, TotalEnergies Nigeria Limited to Telema Energies Limited, and Nigerian Agip Oil Company to Oando Petroleum and Natural Gas Company Limited.
He stated that the fifth, involving Shell Petroleum Development Company’s assets to Renaissance African, could not pass regulatory approvals.
FG gives reason for the approvals
According to the NUPRC CEO, the assets are estimated to hold 6.73 billion barrels of crude oil and condensate, with 56.27 trillion cubic feet of gas.
He asked industry actors to support the agency’s effort to restore order in the sector.
According to the NUPRC helmsman, the government took the initiative to boost the country’s oil and gas reserves via studies and development activities to 37.5 billion barrels of crude oil and 209.26 trillion cubic feet of gas.
The group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mele Kyari, said the government has begun replacing its infrastructure to enhance crude oil evacuation.
Legit earlier reported that the NUPRC asked foreign investors to take advantage of the opportunity of the ongoing licensing round in Nigeria to benefit from and contribute to Nigeria’s fast-growing oil and gas industry.
Its chief executive disclosed this during the Africa Oil Week Conference in Cape Town, South Africa.
He revealed that the licensing round features over 31 oil blocks, supported by a robust regulatory framework under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).