TotalEnergies to Exit Nigerian Oil JV with Shell Amid Environmental Concerns

TotalEnergies, a French energy giant, has announced its intention to sell its 10 per cent stake in a major Nigerian onshore oil joint venture, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC).

The move is part of the company’s strategy to restructure its portfolio and focus on its gas assets in Nigeria, which are vital for its growth in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market.

The company’s CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, revealed the plan during a presentation of the company’s financial results. He said that producing oil in the Niger Delta region was not compatible with the company’s health, security, and environmental policies, and that it posed a real challenge for the company.

TotalEnergies is one of the four partners in the SPDC JV, which is the largest onshore oil producer in Nigeria.

The other partners are Shell (30 per cent), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (55 per cent), and Nigeria Agip Oil Company (5 per cent). The JV operates over 50 oil fields and produces about 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

In January, Shell announced that it had agreed to sell its 30 per cent stake in the SPDC JV to Renaissance, a consortium of five Nigerian companies and an international energy group, for up to $2.4 billion. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and pre-emption rights of the other JV partners.