Seplat Energy Plc has disclosed plans to revitalise about 400 idle Nigerian oil wells after successfully acquiring ExxonMobil’s onshore and gas assets.
A Bloomberg report on Friday, December 13, 2024, disclosed that Seplat is reviving the idle wells and bringing them back into production.
Seplat completes ExxonMobil acquisition
The report stressed that only 200 of the 600 oil wells are active.
Seplat’s Chief Operating Officer, Samson Ezugwuorie, said the company’s immediate concern is reviving oil wells and bringing them back to production.
Punch reports that on Thursday, December 12, 2024, the Indigenous oil firm announced the completion of the $1.28 billion acquisition of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited from ExxonMobil.
The development came after the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) consented to the sale to the Nigerian oil company in October this year.
The deal leveraged the foreign companies leaving Nigeria, which has caused concerns among industry players.
Seplat pays over $900 million for the deal.
The report said that Seplat paid $800 million of the purchase price recently after an initial deposit of $128 million when the deal was signed in 2022.
It deferred the payment of a further $257.5 million to December 2025 due to some decommissioning, abandonment, and joint venture costs.
New deal to lift Nigeria’s crude oil output
The Nigerian oil firm, listed in Lagos and London exchanges, sees the acquisition as a good deal in terms of costs and returns.
The company also views the deal as increasing production. It boosts combined assets to 11 blocks in onshore and shallow water Nigeria, 48 oil-producing oil and gas fields, five gas-processing facilities, and three export terminals.
Reports say Seplat aims to lift output to more than 200,000 barrels daily from 71,000 barrels of oil.
Chappal Energies acquires another oil company in landmark deal
Legit earlier reported that a Nigerian oil firm, Chappal Energies, says it has completed the acquisition of Equinor Nigeria Energy Company, a subsidiary of Norway’s Equinor ASA.
Equinor agreed to sell its Nigerian assets, including its stakes in the Agbami oilfield, to Chappal Energies in November last year.
The Nigerian government later approved the divestment of Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited to another firm via Project Odinmin Investments Limited.