Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited has announced that it has received ministerial consent to acquire Shell Petroleum Development Company.
This marks a significant development in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
This was disclosed in a statement released by the company on Wednesday.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, reportedly granted approval for Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited’s acquisition of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).
However, official confirmation from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission remains unavailable.
Shell had announced in January its agreement to sell its Nigerian onshore oil assets to Renaissance Africa for over $1.3 billion, pending regulatory approvals.
The assets in question reportedly contain approximately 6.73 billion barrels of oil and condensate, along with 56.27 trillion cubic feet of associated and non-associated gas.
Renaissance Africa is a consortium comprising ND Western, Aradel Energy, First Exploration & Production, Waltersmith, and Petrolin.
Notably, on October 21, the federal government announced the approval of other divestment deals.
However, the Shell-Renaissance transaction did not meet the regulatory requirements at that time.
NUPRC’s CEO, Gbenga Komolafe said the commission rejected the deal because it “could not scale (the) regulatory test.”
The Shell Nigeria divestment has faced challenges due to numerous lawsuits and allegations of human rights abuses and environmental degradation in the Niger Delta.
The NUPRC had previously insisted that Shell must accept responsibility for oil spills and commit to funding cleanup efforts before approving the sale.
In its latest statement, however, Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited disclosed that the deal has now received consent from President Bola Tinubu, who also serves as the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
“Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited is pleased to announce that the Minister of Petroleum Resources has granted his consent to the sale of The Shell Petroleum Development Company to Renaissance,” the statement read.
“This approval marks a significant step forward from the announcement of the Sale and Purchase Agreements in January 2024.”
On October 30, the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, expressed optimism that the issues surrounding Shell’s proposed sale of its onshore assets to Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited would be resolved soon.
This statement hinted at ongoing efforts to address regulatory, environmental, and legal challenges associated with the transaction.
