Seplat’s acquisition of ExxonMobil’s Nigerian assets gets ministerial green light

Nigeria’s oil and gas company Seplat Energy has received approval from the country’s Minister of Petroleum Resources to move forward with the acquisition of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU), a subsidiary of U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has confirmed the receipt of consent from Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is also the country’s president. Seplat now intends to work with all parties to finalize the transaction and gain access to the shallow water assets owned by MPNU.

While the Nigerian firm announced its intention to buy ExxonMobil’s business in Nigeria in November 2021 and confirmed it in February 2022, the closing date was pushed back two times.

In May 2023, the share sale and purchase agreement (SSPA) was revised to include ExxonMobil as the recipient of a portion of Seplat’s profits in the period between the effective economic date of the transaction and its completion date.

A year later, the Nigerian firm sought another extension to resolve certain legal matters and obtain applicable regulatory approvals, leaving other aspects of the transaction unchanged.

Meanwhile, the U.S. energy major recently decided to boost its carbon capture and storage (CCS) portfolio by signing a lease with the Texas General Land Office (GLO) for 271,000 acres of offshore CO2 storage in Texan waters.