After over two years of back-and-forth, denials, claims and counterclaims, Seplat Energy Plc, on Tuesday said it has received the blessing of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to proceed with the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU).
Seplat in a statement to the Nigerian Exchange said NUPRC confirmed that consent has been granted by the country’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to proceed with the deal.
The statement by Roger Brown, Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Energy expressed appreciation to President Tinubu ”for granting this approval,” as well as the support and diligence of the various ministries and regulators for all the work on the transaction.
The statement promised to make further announcements as and when appropriate, in line with regulatory requirements.
Recall that trouble started for Seplat Energy in August 2022, when it announced the receipt of a letter from Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources to the effect that the then President Muhammadu Buhari has given a Ministerial Consent for the cash acquisition.
Seplat Energy had earlier in a statement on February 25, 2022, said that it had agreed to the deal at a purchase price of $1.283bn, plus up to $300m contingent consideration from Mobil Development Nigeria Inc (MDNI) and Mobil Exploration Nigeria Inc (MENI), entities of Exxon Mobil Corporation registered in Delaware, USA (ExxonMobil).
The Ministerial approval, Seplat said in its statement by Emeka Onwuka, its then Chief Financial officer, and filed with the NGX, was given by President Buhari in his capacity as the Minister of Petroleum Resources. The ministerial consent, he continued was granted pursuant to the powers of the Minister under Paragraphs 14-16 of the First Schedule of the Petroleum Act, 1969. A separate announcement from the State House had earlier been released.
In the letter, the then President in his capacity as HMPR directed that the HMSPR shall convey Ministerial Consent to all relevant parties, including but not limited to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the ExxonMobil companies, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (“FCCPC”), and Seplat Energy/Seplat Energy Offshore Limited.
The President also further directed that the HMSPR shall ensure that the ExxonMobil/Seplat Energy operating entity (being MPNU) carries out operatorship of all the OMLs in the related shallow water assets to optimise production in support of Nigeria’s OPEC quota in the short term as well as ensure accelerated development and monetisation of the gas resources in the assets for the Nigerian economy.
The company appreciated President Buhari for the Ministerial Consent to the landmark acquisition of the entire share capital of MPNU, noting that transformational transaction will create one of the largest independent energy companies on both the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges, and bolster Seplat Energy’s ability to drive increased growth, profitability and overall stakeholder prosperity.
But in a swift reaction some hours afterwards, the NUPRC issued a statement affirming that as the sole regulator agency on such matter, its earlier decline of Ministerial assent remains in place.
