Divestment: IOCs not leaving Nigeria —Lokpobiri

By Oke Peter

The Minister of Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, yesterday assured that no international oil company (IOC) is exiting Nigeria.

He spoke against the backdrop of recent divestment programmes by some IOCs with most of them focusing on offshore operations.

Recall that Shell had in May 2024 finalised an agreement to sell its 30% stake in the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC).

Also last month, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) approved the divestment between ExxonMobil and Seplat and three other international oil companies (IOCs).

The agreement was in respect of the sale of ExxonMobil’s onshore oil and gas assets in Nigeria to Seplat Energy. The deal is worth $1.28bn.

Speaking on the sidelines of the African Energy Week in Cape Town, South Africa, Lokpobiri stated that he had engaged with the various IOCs and none of them had indicated intention to leave the country.

“Let me say this. I interact with all the companies. IOCs, service providers, independent operators, marketers none of them are leaving Nigeria. I want to use this opportunity to assure the world that no company is leaving Nigeria.

“All those divesting are going deep offshore because they don’t want to contend with the local issues that they have been contending with for the past 70 years.

“The onshore and shallow water assets that they have been operating all these years, they want to leave them to the indigenous operators and go deep offshores. No company is leaving Nigeria because some people have the impression that companies are leaving. They are going deep offshore beyond the capacity of the local players,” Lokpobiri said.

He further stated that indigenous energy companies acquiring the onshore assets of IOCs are fully capable of managing these operations effectively.

He highlighted that local players like Seplat and Oando Plc have been cooperating in these fields alongside IOCs for years, demonstrating their expertise and capacity.

The minister also assured that Nigeria will not lose out on royalties, taxes, or capital inflows as a result of these divestments, emphasizing the continued economic benefits to the country.

“Let me start with the merger and acquisitions going on. I will use this opportunity to assure the rest of the world that Nigeria is just like any other country in the world. Some will bring their capital to invest and there will be some divesting. We are not against divestment. I always contend that we have enormous capacity in our indigenous company.

“Seplat is an indigenous company that bought ExxonMobil. Similarly, Oando is a very serious company. These companies have grown with enormous capacity.

“Even before the divestment, most of these companies had Nigerians as their field operators. The expatriates are only just in the office to oversee what’s going on. So, Nigeria will have nothing to lose in terms of royalties, taxes, and the way these things are professionally run. They have nothing absolutely to lose. It creates another opportunity for Nigerians to actually show themselves,” Lokpobiri said.