The Southern African Times gathered that the French multinational oil and gas firm is currently in the process of selling off its 10% stake in SPDC, a joint venture consisting of 13 oilfields and jointly co-owned by ENI, Shell and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
According to a tender document that was quoted by Reuters, TotalEnergies made the sale offer in late April, with Scotiabank serving as the lead financial adviser. Among the assets that are up for sale are 3,500 kilometres pipelines connecting Bonny and Forcados, two important crude export terminals in Nigeria.
In the meantime, it’s uncertain how far the divestment process has progressed. It is also uncertain whether TotalEnergies is facing any challenges with the arrangement. Both the oil company and Scotiabank have declined to comment on the situation.
Recall that Shell, which owns 30% stake in the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), has been having some troubles finalising its own divestment from the joint venture.
An earlier article by Business Insider Africa detailed how a Federal High Court in the West African country ordered the oil major to suspend all ongoing plans to sell off its Nigerian onshore assets.
The court order was related to an ongoing appeal filed by Shell against an earlier $2 billion penalty that was imposed on it in 2020 for oil spillage and environmental degradation. A three-judge panel suspended the impending divestment, pending a ruling on the appeal.
In the meantime, Shell was also ordered to immediately deposit the judgement sum of $2 billion in a bank account controlled by the court.
Note that many international oil companies are rushing to divest their Nigerian onshore oil assets due to years-long sabotage and theft that have deprived them of revenue and degraded their facilities.
Nigeria’s oil rich Niger Delta region has long been characterised by pipeline vandalism, oil theft/bunkering and environmental degradation. Earlier this year, some of the country’s oil stakeholders cried out as huge volumes of crude oil continues to disappear from the region; leading to losses.
