Tinubu’s Intervention Cleared Divestment Bottlenecks – Lokpobiri
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri has said that the intervention of President Bola Tinubu assisted in addressing the pending divestments that had hindered investment flows for several years.
Lokpobiri spoke in Abuja on Wednesday when the new management of Renaissance Africa Energy Company (formerly Shell Petroleum Development Company), led by Tony Attah, its chief executive officer (CEO), visited him.
“So, when I became minister, we had several divestment issues. Some of them had been there for years. And my position was very clear. I said, divestment is a global practice. If you want to attract investments, you must also allow people to divest when they want to,” Lokpobiri said.
“I’m proud to say that under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, these divestments that were pending were basically one of the obstacles to the flow of investment.
“We consented to them, and the president personally signed those divestments. That is the evidence of leadership. Leadership is not just by mouth, it’s by action.”
Lokpobiri said Tinubu gave his office instructions to ensure that all divestments were expedited, adding that the circumstances that existed before are no longer the case today.
He said, “Today, if people want to invest, that question is no longer whether Nigeria is an investment destination where you can come and invest and also divest. But it was a major issue in 2023 when I went with the president to New York.
“And that’s when the transaction was stalled. The president gave me a very clear directive. I had to go back and to make sure that this matter was sorted. Today, the matter is sorted, so that question is no more.”
He expressed optimism that local companies taking over from IOCs will do far better, adding that the question of whether the oil industry will survive, given the recent divestments, does not exist.
“My conviction is that Nigerians will benefit more. Decisions will no longer be taken abroad. If anything happens to any pipeline, they have to wait for the headquarters to make the decision. Right now, once anything happens, the decisions will be taken in Lagos or in Abuja,” Lokpobiri said.
The minister said companies do not need to “wait for anybody to make those decisions for things to be fixed”.
Since Tinubu’s administration began in May 2023, some IOCs have gone on to complete the process of selling their assets to their Nigerian counterparts — a process that had been pending for as long as two years.
Seplat Energy Plc, in February 2021, agreed to acquire the entire share capital of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) from ExxonMobil for $1.3bn.
In September 2023, Oando Plc also agreed to acquire a 100 percent stake in Eni’s subsidiary — the Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOC Ltd).
One month later, Equinor said it agreed to sell its Nigerian business, including the company’s stake in the Agbami oil field, to Chappal Energies.
In January 2024, Shell Plc said it had decided to sell its Nigerian onshore oil assets to a consortium of local companies for over $1.3bn.
The federal government, on October 21, 2024, approved the divestment deals.
According to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Eni’s divestment of NAOC to Oando, TotalEnergies-Telema Energies deal, and ExxonMobil’s sale of MPNU to Seplat Energy, received ministerial consent.
The divestment of Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited to Project Odinmin Investments Limited was also approved by the federal government.
Tinubu’s Intervention Cleared Divestment Bottlenecks – Lokpobiri is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
