French oil major TotalEnergies has announced it will put up for sale its minority stake in a Nigerian oil joint venture.
The firm wants to focus on deep-water fields away from the difficulties of operating in close proximity with local communities, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
TotalEnergies is a multinational energy company operating in more than 130 countries. For over 50 years, the company has remained a leader in the downstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
Mele Kyari, the group managing director, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited had in February said International oil companies are leaving Nigeria and shifting their portfolios to where they can add value to the journey towards carbon net-zero commitment.
Last year, Royal Dutch Shell announced its plan to offload onshore Nigerian oil assets in a bid to move to cleaner energy.
It said it was discussing with the federal government to sell its onshore oil assets in the country.
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Also, Seplat Energy in February announced it had entered into a contract with ExxonMobil, to buy Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited’s entire oil assets in Nigeria. That includes all of Exxon’s entire shallow water assets in the Niger Delta.
“Disruption of local communities are sources of great concern in the country,” Patrick Pouyanne, TotalEnergies chief executive officer was quoted by Bloomberg as saying on a conference call on Thursday.
The French energy giant will look to offload its 10 per cent interest in a firm that holds 20 onshore and shallow water permits in the West African country, Mr Pouyanne said.
Shell Plc, the operator of the licenses, is already considering bids from four local firms for its 30 per cent shareholding in the company,” he said.
