Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) on Friday confirmed that it had divested eight Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) in Nigeria from 2010 to date.
Shell Media Relations Manager Precious Okolobo said in Lagos that SPDC had sold its interests in OML 4, 38 and 41 which were sold on July 30, 2010.
Others are OML 26 and 42 which sold on Nov. 30, 2011; OML 40 on Aug. 31, 2012; OML 34 on Sept. 5, 2012 and OML 30 on Nov. 9, 2012, respectively.
NAN reports that the OMLs divested in the Eastern Niger Delta region are 26, 30, 34, 40, 42, 4, 41and 38, while another four had been penciled for divestment before 2015.
It would be recalled that the first set of oil fields sold by Shell were oil mining leases (OMLs) 4, 38 and 41 acquired and operated by Seplat Petroleum Development Company.
OMLs 26, 30, 34, 40 and 42 were acquired by Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) also the operator.
Okolobo said that in June 2013, SPDC also announced a strategic review of its operations in the Eastern Niger Delta, which could result in the divestment of some of its interests there.
“The assets under consideration are OMLs 18, 24, 25, 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, but the process has not yet concluded.
“We have signed Sales and Purchase Agreements for some of the Oil Mining Leases, but not all that we are seeking to divest.
“In the event of a successful completion of the sales process we shall make a market announcement,” he said.
Okolobo said that Nigeria remained an important part of Shell’s portfolio, “where we will continue to have a significant onshore presence in oil and gas, and which has clear growth potential, particularly in deep-water and onshore gas”.
He said that Shell had a history of over 50 years in Nigeria and remained committed to the country and to supporting the government of Nigeria in its plans for the oil and gas sector.
It was gathered that Royal Dutch Shell Plc., Nigeria’s biggest crude oil producer, is advancing plans to complete sale of four oil blocks in Eastern Niger Delta to meet its target of 15 billion dollars from assets sales between 2014 and 2015.
The assets under consideration are oil mining leases (OMLs) 18, 24, 25, 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line.
“The battle for acquisition of these four oil blocks has been raging since the beginning of the year.”
Some major stakeholders in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry were opposed to some preferred bidders, which has been one of the major reasons the deal had not been sealed.
Currently, Midwestern Oil and Gas/Mart Resources/Suntrust Oil, under the Erotron Consortium, won the bid for OML 18 while Aiteo/Taleveras in partnership with four other companies made up the consortium that won bid for OML 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk line.
OML 29 is considered the juiciest of the blocks.
The preferred bidder for OML 24 is Pan Ocean Oil Corporation Nigeria Limited, while Lekoil, Crestar, Green Acres/CCC/Signet Petroleum, NDPR/SAPETRO and Essar, as a consortium, is being considered for OML 25.
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