REVIEW: Acquisitions and partnerships that shaped Nigeria’s oil and gas landscape in 2024

In the upstream sector, the year saw international oil giants like Shell and TotalEnergies relinquish their assets to local players like Seplat Energy and Oando PLC.

We also saw ambitious acquisitions and partnership deals involving IOCs and indigenous oil companies.

While divestments and exits were witnessed mostly in onshore operations, more investments by IOCs were observed in the offshore segment.

Experts suggest that the IOCs do not want to deal with local issues such as pipeline vandalism and environmental pollution, while local companies have been hailed for their investment in this area despite the risks.

The year also featured significant financial investment decisions and partnerships that would shape the future of Nigeria’s energy industry.

Here are some of the major deals in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry in 2024. 

The Norwegian energy firm, Equinor ASA finalised the sale of its Nigerian assets, a  53.85% ownership in oil and gas lease OML 128, including a 20.21% stake in the Agbami field, to Chappal Energies for up to $1.2 billion.

The sale signifies the exit of Equinor Nigeria Energy Company (ENEC) from Nigeria as the parent company said it planned to “deepen further in countries where Equinor can add the most value and build a more focused and robust international portfolio.”

The deal, executed through Project Odinmim a special-purpose vehicle owned by Chappal Energies—was finalized this month, after several months of delay by Nigerian regulators.

Seplat Energy Plc, listed on both the Nigerian Exchange Limited and the London Stock Exchange, also completed the acquisition of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited MPNU from ExxonMobil Corporation.

In a deal expected to be finalised in the next couple of weeks, TotalEnergies has decided to divest from Nigeria’s onshore operations in favour of a more secure offshore environment by selling its 10% stake in the Shell Petroleum Development Company to an Indigenous company, Chappal Energies.

This year, Oando Plc completed the acquisition of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) from Italian energy giant Eni in a deal worth $783 million.

Speaking on NAOC’s acquisition, the Group Chief Executive of Oando PLC, Wale Tinubu, said:

“Today’s announcement is the culmination of ten years of hard work, resilience, and an unwavering belief that we would realise our ambition. It is a win, not just for Oando, but for every indigenous energy player as we take our destiny in our hands.

“This is a new dawn for the Nigerian energy sector, and we are confident that indigenous companies will play a pivotal role in this next phase of the nation’s upstream evolution. With our assumption of the role of operator, our immediate focus is on optimizing the assets’ immense potential in contributing to our strategic objectives, whilst complementing the nation’s plan to boost production outputs.”   

“This is a new dawn for the Nigerian energy sector, and we are confident that indigenous companies will play a pivotal role in this next phase of the nation’s upstream evolution. With our assumption of the role of operator, our immediate focus is on optimizing the assets’ immense potential in contributing to our strategic objectives, whilst complementing the nation’s plan to boost production outputs.”   

Naijaonpoint recently reported the final investment decision (FID) of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) on the Bonga North deep-water project, located off Nigeria’s coast.

Speaking on the investment decision, Shell’s Integrated Gas and Upstream Director, Zoë Yujnovich, said: “This is another significant investment, which will help us to maintain stable liquids production from our advantaged Upstream portfolio.”  

Two Nigerian companies partner with Saipem to secure a contract on the Bongo North project

Weeks after Shell’s FID on the Bongo North project, an Italian multinational oilfield services company in partnership with two Nigerian companies,  KOA Oil & Gas and AVEON Offshore, secured a contract valued at approximately $1 billion from SNEPco to work on the oilfield.

According to Saipem,  the contract covers the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Installation (EPCI) of risers, flowlines, subsea umbilicals, and associated subsea structures.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Total Energies also announced a Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Ubeta oilfield (OML 58), in a partnership deal valued at $550 million.

Naijaonpoint reported that this FID involves a commitment of $550 million to extract 900 billion cubic feet of non-associated natural gas from the oil field, situated approximately 85 kilometres from Port Harcourt in Nigeria’s Niger Delta Region.