The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on energy, Olu Verheijen, says the issues around Shell’s proposed sale of its onshore assets to Renaissance, a consortium of local companies will be resolved soon.
Olu Verheijen, told Bloomberg on Wednesday, that the concern raised about the deal would be addressed soon.
“I am sure that in short order it will be resolved with the regulator in a way that addresses our objectives to continue to accelerate exits for international oil companies,” Verheijen said.
Shell’s proposed sale of its onshore oil and gas assets in Nigeria to Renaissance – a consortium of four exploration and production companies in Nigeria and an international energy group, has been under review by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) since January.
The NUPRC is reportedly concerned about the consortium’s financial capacity and technical expertise to manage the assets.
“Nigeria’s government wants to ensure that smaller companies that take over fields from major oil producers can invest adequately,” Verheijen said.
“For the independents who are coming in onshore, we want to make sure that they align with our objectives of rapidly growing production,” she said. “They need to ensure that there is a technical and financial capacity and that some of the obligations that need to be addressed are being addressed.”
Shell has been seeking to divest from its onshore assets in Nigeria for several years.
