At Last, Nigeria Okays $1.3m Renaissance Buyout of Shell’s Onshore Assets

The Minister of Petroleum Resources (Oil), Mr Heineken Lokpobiri, is allowing Renaissance Africa Energy’s purchase of the assets, the group said in a statement Wednesday.

Business Post reported earlier that the deal may get approval soon following the announcement of Shell’s $5 billion investment in the Bonga North project, which reportedly used the final investment decision (FID) as a pavement for the approval of the sale of its onshore and shallow water assets to the consortium.

In October, the chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mr Gbenga Komolafe, revealed that while the government had processed five divestment applications, only four were approved – leaving out Shell’s asset sale to Renaissance, a consortium made up of four indigenous companies including Aradel Holdings, ND Western, First Exploration and Production (E&P) and WalterSmith as well as the international energy group, Petrolin.

These assets, initially at $2.4 billion and now at $1.3 billion, include an estimated 6.73 billion barrels of crude oil and condensate, along with 56.27 trillion cubic feet of gas.

The FG rejected the transaction because the consortium did not have the financial, experiential, and technical capacities to take over the assets.

The takeover will see Shell exit its Niger Delta operations and focus on its gas and upstream business, which it hopes will continue to drive cash generation into the next decade.