The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has withdrawn the sale of a minority stake in TotalEnergies assets to Chappal Energies over the failure to meet financial commitments.
Last July, TotalEnergies agreed to sell a 10 per cent stake in Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) to the relatively unknown Chappal Energies.
In October 2024, the deal was granted regulatory approval by the NUPRC, leaving the assent of the President as the final step to transfer ownership to complete the deal.
Now, regulatory approval for the sale has not met financial commitments required to complete the deal, according to Mr Eniola Akinkuoto, spokesperson for the commission.
“The ministerial consent was accompanied by certain financial obligations to the Nigerian people with strict deadlines. However, both parties failed to meet their financial commitments after repeated extensions, forcing the commission to cancel the deal,” Mr Akinkuoto said on Tuesday.
As per Reuters, Chappal failed to raise the $860 million valuation fee, and as a result TotalEnergies did not fulfil its requirement to pay regulatory fees and cover funds for environmental rehabilitation and future liabilities.
The failed deal leaves TotalEnergies saddled with its stake in a business which has struggled with hundreds of oil spills as a result of theft, sabotage and operational issues that led to costly repairs and billions in debt.