It is a historic milestone in the Nigeria oil and gas industry today as Oando PLC an onshore oil & gas exploration and production company in Nigeria, as well as power generation has officially completed the acquisition journey of the 100% shares of Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOC Ltd) onshore assets in Nigeria.

The completion acquisition agreement and signing ceremony which was held at The Peninsula Hotel in London has cemented the Oando position as Nigeria's leading indigenous energy solutions provider. Oando PLC is Nigeria’s leading indigenous energy solutions provider listed on both the Nigerian Exchange Limited and Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

The transaction, which has received the approval of all relevant authorities, is in line with Eni’s strategy focused on the rationalization of the upstream activities by rebalancing its portfolio and divesting non-strategic assets.

The 5% participating interest in SPDC (Shell Production Development Company Joint Venture) is not included in the transaction, as it will be retained in Eni’s portfolio. Eni will continue to be present in the Country through investment in deepwater projects and Nigeria LNG, while also exploring new opportunities related to agri-feedstock sector.

According to the statement on its official social media X handle: “This strategic acquisition aligns with our commitment to driving Nigeria's energy transition and bolstering our portfolio. We are excited about the growth opportunities this presents for Oando PLC, our shareholders, and the Nigerian energy sector. We look forward to leveraging the acquired assets to further our goal of providing efficient and sustainable energy solutions for all.”

The completion of Eni onshore assets in Nigeria by Oando is expected to leverage the crude oil production output in Nigeria as the country is currently seeking increase in crude in meeting up her domestic refineries feedstock. The country’s newly built 650,000 barrels per day Dangote refinery is facing paucity of crude oil supply while blaming the international oil companies operating in the country for the short supply.

“It is rather uncanny that this acquisition comes exactly a decade after Oando’s landmark $1.8 billion acquisition of ConocoPhillips’ Nigeria interest, a transaction which incidentally made the company a Joint Venture (JV) partner on the asset alongside NNPC E&P Ltd (NEPL) and NAOC.
“The ConocoPhillips transaction propelled Oando’s production from approximately 4,500 barrels of oil per day to 50,000 barrels of oil per day at the time,” the firm added.

Speaking on NAOC’s acquisition, the Group Chief Executive of Oando Plc, Wale Tinubu, said: “Today’s announcement is the culmination of 10 years of hard work, resilience, and an unwavering belief that we would realise our ambition. It is a win, not just for Oando, but for every indigenous energy player as we take our destiny in our hands.

“This is a new dawn for the Nigerian energy sector, and we are confident that indigenous companies will play a pivotal role in this next phase of the nation’s upstream evolution. With our assumption of the role of operator, our immediate focus is on optimising the assets’ immense potential in contributing to our strategic objectives, whilst complementing the nation’s plan to boost production outputs.

“Looking to the future, we will continue to pursue strategic opportunities that provide enhanced growth and value creation for our stakeholders, particularly in clean energy, agri-feedstock sector, as well as infrastructure and mining.”
The transaction, Oando said, increases its current participating interests in Oil Mining Licences (OMLs) 60, 61, 62, and 63 from 20 per cent to 40 per cent and increases its ownership stake in the Joint Venture (JV) assets and infrastructure which include 40 discovered oil and gas fields, of which 24 are currently producing as well as approximately 40 identified prospects and leads.

It stated that the deal also involves 12 production stations, approximately 1,490km of pipelines, three gas processing plants, the Brass River Oil Terminal and the Kwale-Okpai phases 1 & 2 power plants, with a total nameplate capacity of 960MW, and associated infrastructure. Furthermore, Oando said that it will significantly boost the company’s production reserves which currently stands at 505.6MMboe to 1.0bnboe.