TotalEnergies sells interest in Nigerian JV
French energy major TotalEnergies announced on July 17 that its subsidiary, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria, has signed an agreement with Mauritius-based Chappal Energies to sell its 10% interest in the SPDC JV licences in Nigeria.
The SPDC JV is an unincorporated joint venture consisting of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (55%), Shell (30%, operator), TotalEnergies EP Nigeria (10%), and NAOC (5%), holding 18 licences in the Niger Delta.
|
Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. |
As part of the agreement, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will transfer its 10% participating interest and all associated rights and obligations in 15 licences of the SPDC JV, which primarily produce oil, to Chappal Energies. These licences accounted for approximately 14,000 barrels of oil equivalent/day in 2023.
Additionally, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will transfer its 10% participating interest in three other licenses (OML 23, OML 28, and OML 77), which mainly produce gas, while retaining a full economic interest in these licences that currently supply 40% of Nigeria LNG's gas.
The transaction, valued at $860mn, is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals.
“TotalEnergies continues to actively manage its portfolio in Nigeria, in line with its strategy to focus on its oil offshore and gas assets,” said Nicolas Terraz, president exploration & production of TotalEnergies. “After the launch of the Ubeta gas development on OML58 licence last month, this divestment of our interest in SPDC JV licences allows us to focus our onshore Nigeria presence solely on the integrated gas value chain and is designed to ensure the continuity of feed gas supply to Nigeria LNG in the future.”
This marks the third major divestment by TotalEnergies in recent weeks. Last month, the company agreed to sell its wholly-owned subsidiary, TotalEnergies EP (Brunei), to Malaysian independent oil and gas company Hibiscus Petroleum for $259mn. Additionally, in June, TotalEnergies signed an agreement to sell its entire stake in the West of Shetland gas assets in the UK to The Prax Group.