TotalEnergies unveils sale of stake in 16 oil assets in Nigeria

French oil major, TotalEnergies SE, has launched the sale of its 10% stake in its Nigerian joint venture with Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SDPC) and Eni.

A sale document tendering for interest showed that the oil firm appointed Canada’s Scotiabank to lead the sale as the financial adviser to the transaction, according to Reuters.

Although the report states that both TotalEnergies and Scotiabank have declined to comment on the latest development, the former had a few weeks ago announced plans to sell its stake in the onshore joint venture.

TotalEnergies had confirmed it was selling its interest in 13 onshore fields and 3 in shallow water, producing over 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The sale includes infrastructure such as 3,500 km of pipelines connecting to 2 key crude export terminals, Bonny and Forcados.

The French company will keep OMLs (oil mining licences) 23 and 28 and its interest in the associated gas pipeline network that feeds Nigeria LNG.

The divestment by TotalEnergies will be the latest in a series of similar actions by other International Oil Companies (IOCs) like Shell and ExxonMobil, who had both, several months ago, announced plans to divest from their Nigerian oil assets.

These oil majors attributed their divestment in Nigeria’s onshore production to years of sabotage and theft that has degraded assets across the oil-rich delta region.