Abuja, Dec 18 – Nigeria’s oil minister has approved Shell’s $2.4 billion sale of onshore and shallow-water oil and gas assets to Renaissance Group, ending the company’s nearly 100-year history of onshore operations in the country.
The sale includes assets containing an estimated 6.73 billion barrels of oil and condensate, along with 56.27 trillion cubic feet of gas. The deal, initially announced in January, faced delays after the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) blocked it in October, citing Renaissance’s inability to demonstrate adequate capacity to manage the assets.
Renaissance confirmed the approval in a statement, calling it a major step forward for the deal.
The move is part of a larger retreat by Western oil companies, including ExxonMobil, Italy’s Eni, and Norway’s Equinor, from Nigeria’s onshore sector, as they shift focus to offshore projects.
Neither Shell nor the NUPRC immediately responded to requests for comment.
