A Royal Dutch Shell-led consortium is close to selling several Nigerian oilfields for about $5bn to domestic buyers, as foreign companies retreat from sub-Saharan Africa’s oldest oil industry.
The price tag for the four oilfields and a key pipeline co-owned by Shell, Total of France and Eni of Italy has doubled since initial estimates towards the end of last year. The rise highlights the financial muscle of a cluster of Nigerian oil companies that have emerged as prominent players in the country’s hydrocarbon industry.
The sales are the latest move by oil and gas supermajors to reduce their onshore presence in Nigeria, in the face of theft and sabotage and long delays to a government bill setting out new terms for operators.