French energy giant TotalEnergies is set to sell its onshore business in Nigeria, its CEO Patrick Pouyanne has said, noting that operation in the Niger Delta is a “real difficulty.”
Another oil major Shell announced last month that it was selling its onshore property—the Shell Petroleum Development Company(SPDC)—after decades of operation in the sector in Nigeria, reports The Guardian.
TotalEnergies owns 10% in SPDC.
“We want to divest our share of SPDC, and we are looking to reshape the portfolio,” Pouyanne said at TotalEnergies’ annual results presentation on Wednesday.
“Fundamentally it’s because producing this oil in the Niger Delta is not in line with our [Health, Security and Environmental] policies, it’s a real difficulty.”
TotalEnergies, however, will not divest from its Nigerian gas business.
Pouyanne described the gas business as crucial for the company’s planned expansion of liquefied natural gas development in coming years.
The sale of the company’s onshore business still depends on regulatory approval.
The energy giant made a record net profit of $21.4 billion in 2023, an increase of four percent over 2022.
Meanwhile, TotalEnergies said in an email statement the same day it announced the plan to offload its onshore business that it will start the start of production from the Akpo West field on the PML2 license in Nigeria.
Akpo West is tied back to the existing Akpo Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility, which started-up in 2009 and produced 124,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2023.
By mid-2024, Akpo West will add 14,000 barrels of condensate production per day, to be followed by up to 4 million cubic meters of gas per day by 2028.
This project fits the Company’s strategy of developing low-cost and low-emission projects”,said Mike Sangster, Senior Vice President Africa, Exploration and Production at TotalEnergies.
“This project leverages TotalEnergies’ solid footprint in Nigeria and will quickly bring value to the country, TotalEnergies and its partners.”
