ExxonMobil-Seplat deal, others to increase Nigeria’s oil output by 21.4% – Experts
By Ediri Ejoh
THERE were indications that the conclusion of the $1.28 billion ExxonMobil-Seplat divestment deal and other similar deals in the upstream segment of Nigeria’s oil industry would increase oil output by 21.4 per cent to more than 1.7 million barrels per day, bpd.
President Bola Tinubu said yesterday in his independent day national broadcast, that the ExxonMobil-Seplat deal would be signed by the government in few days time.
According to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, Nigeria produced 1.4 million bpd, excluding condensate in August 2024.
However, in different interviews with Vanguard, yesterday, experts said the addition of between 300,000 bpd and 400,000 bpd condensate and additional output from ExxonMobil and Agip, which has already been taken up by Oando could raise Nigeria’s output to about 1.7 million bpd.
Giving this hint, the National President of Oil and Gas Service Providers Association of Nigeria, OGSPAN, Mazi Colman Obasi, said: “The ExxonMobil/Seplat deal has been on the drawing board for a while. It is therefore a good development to conclude it as soon as possible, especially it would very likely lead to increased oil and gas production.”
Another expert that pleaded to be anonymous said: “This would enable Nigeria to hit its future budget targets. The nation had based the 2024 budget at 1.7 million bpd, including Condensate and $77 per barrel. But it has been struggling to meet the target throughout the first half of the year.”
The transaction, which involves Seplat Energy acquiring the entire share capital of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) from ExxonMobil for $1.28 billion, has been the subject of legal disputes.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited initially filed a lawsuit to block the deal on July 5, 2022, leading to the referral of the transaction to arbitration by the court on August 3, 2022.
