Equinor Completes Nigeria Exit

Equinor ASA has completed the sale of all its Nigerian assets, including a 20.21 percent stake in the Agbami oil field, to an African company for up to $1.2 billion.

The divestment of Equinor Nigeria Energy Co. to Chappal Energies Mauritius Ltd. allows the Norwegian majority state-owned energy major to focus on core areas, Equinor said. The transfer ended Equinor’s presence of over three decades in the West African country.

“The local employees will continue to be employed by the transferred company under the control of the new owner, marking a complete country exit for Equinor”, Equinor said in an update to the original sale announcement it posted online November 29, 2023.

The transaction value consists of a $710 million purchase price and contingent payments.

“Equinor does not retain any material liabilities other than certain contractual liabilities to the buyer under the transaction agreements”, it added.

The company said in announcing the sale late last year, “Equinor has been present in Nigeria since 1992 and has played a significant role in developing Nigeria’s largest deep-water field, Agbami”. It noted the field has produced over one billion barrels of oil since startup 2008.

Located in the oil-rich Niger Delta, Agbami is operated by Chevron Corp. with a 67.3 percent interest. Prime 127 Nigeria Ltd. holds the remaining 12.49 percent.

The world’s biggest oil discovery in 1998, Agbami holds an estimated 900 million barrels of potential recoverable volumes, according to information from Chevron.

Agbami, which spans 45,000 acres and sits at a water depth of about 4,800 feet, is tied back to a floating production, storage and offloading vessel. Lying 70 miles off the coast of the central Niger Delta region, it partly lies in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 128, where Equinor was the operator with a 53.85 percent interest. Agbami is also part of OML 127, a joint venture between operator Chevron (32 percent), Famfa Oil Ltd. (60 percent) and Prime 127 (eight percent).

Equinor also operated OML 129 with a 53.85 percent share. Three out of four wells drilled here yielded discoveries according to a Wood Mackenzie report October 5, 2023, which classified Bilah, Nnwa and Sehki as non-commercial discoveries.

“This transaction realizes value and is in line with Equinor’s strategy to optimize its international oil and gas portfolio and focus on core areas”, Nina Koch, Equinor senior vice-president for African operations, said of the exit.

Besides Equinor, energy heavyweights Eni SpA, Exxon Mobil Corp., Shell PLC and TotalEnergies SE have initiated divestments in Nigeria, mostly onshore.

Chappal is also the buyer for TotalEnergies’ 10 percent stake in the SPDC Joint Venture, in a transaction announced July 17, 2024.

Shell earlier announced January 16, 2024, it was exiting the JV by selling the subsidiary that operates the JV but has failed to win regulatory clearance to close the transaction. On November 3, 2024, Financial Times reported the British company continued to engage with Nigerian authorities.

Nigerian National Petroleum Co. Ltd. is the majority owner of the SPDC JV holding 55 percent. Shell owns 30 percent. Eni owns the remaining five percent through Nigerian Agip Oil Co. Ltd. (NAOC); the Italian state-controlled company also sold NAOC but has decided to retain the SPDC JV stake.

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