NNPC Halts Sale of ExxonMobil’s Nigerian Unit to Seplat

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has secured a court order restraining the sale of shares of ExxonMobil’s Nigerian unit to any third parties.

The injunction granted on July 6 effectively restricted Mobil Producing Nigeria Ltd and Mobil Development Nigeria Plc from selling, trading, allocating, transferring, or disposing of their shares in their interests covered by or connected to the Joint Operating Agreement between them and the NNPC.

The order restrains “sale of assets covered in Oil Mining Lease 68, Oil Mining Lease 69, Oil Mining Lease 70 and Oil Prospecting Licence 94, to anybody, person (s), company, consortium or entity howsoever described pending the determination of the claimant/applicant’s motion filed on the 5th of July or when the judicial tribunal is duly constituted and can make interim preservation orders,” the motion reads.

The motion, with suit no: FCT/HC/BW/CV/173/22 m/203/2022, was filed on July 5 at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, in the Abuja division, presided over by Justice B. Belgor.

ExxonMobil, which operates four licenses in Nigeria, had reached a $1.28 billion sale agreement with Seplat Energy in February to sell its 95,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day it operated in a joint venture with NNPC to the indigenous company.

However, the report noted that NNPC wished to halt the deal and take over the licenses itself. Seplat, which was not a party to the lawsuit, was positive that its deal with Exxon was “still valid” and the company “remains confident that the matter will be brought to a proper conclusion in accordance with the law.”