By Emmanuel Nduka
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has secured an injunction from the Federal High Court in Abuja restraining the sale of shares of ExxonMobil’s Nigerian unit to any third parties.
It would be recalled that earlier in February this year, Seplat Energy Plc, a major energy company, had agreed to buy the entire onshore and shallow-water assets of ExxonMobil in Nigeria for $1.28 billion, a deal the NNPC opposed.
Fast forward to July 6, NNPC secured an order restraining Mobil Producing Nigeria Ltd and Mobil Development Nigeria Plc from selling, trading, allocating, transferring, or disposing of their shares in their interests covered by or connected to the Joint Operating Agreement between them and the NNPC.
The order restrains “sale of assets covered in Oil Mining Lease 68, Oil Mining Lease 69, Oil Mining Lease 70 and Oil Prospecting Licence 94, to anybody, person (s), company, consortium or entity howsoever described pending the determination of the claimant/applicant’s motion filed on the 5th of July or when the judicial tribunal is duly constituted and can make interim preservation orders.”
The motion, with suit no: FCT/HC/BW/CV/173/22 m/203/2022, was filed on July 5 at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, in the Abuja division, presided over by Justice B. Belgore. It had the upstream regulator as one of the defendants.
ExxonMobil Nigeria’s shallow water business is an established, high-quality operation with a highly skilled local operating team and a track record of safe operations, producing 95 kboepd in 2020 (92% liquids).
NNPC had initially opted to exercise its Right of First Refusal (RFR) on the sale of the assets. The RFR is reportedly contained in the Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) of the Joint Venture (JV), which represents NNPC’s position on the planned sale of the shares to Seplat Energy Plc.
The Nigerian Government had in May 2022, refused to give its consent to the transaction, attributing its decision to reject the deal due to overriding national interest, among other reasons.
The acquisition if completed, was expected to give Seplat additional production of about 95,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day from shallow-water assets that Exxon operated in a joint venture with NNPC.
