AfrOil: Eni receives regulatory approval for $500mn sale of NAOC to Oando

Eni, the Italian oil and gas major, has received regulatory approval from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to sell its subsidiary Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOC) to Oando Plc, a major domestic energy company.

Eni announced the sale of NAOC after receiving formal approval, 10 months after initially signing the deal in September 2023. This transaction is the first to be approved under Nigeria's new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

Following this acquisition, Oando's reserves are expected to nearly double, increasing to 996mn barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Although the precise transaction price has not been officially disclosed, media reports indicate it may exceed $500mn.

NAOC holds interests in Nigeria across four onshore blocks (OML 60, 61, 62, and 63), operating these on behalf of the NAOC JV, which consists of NAOC Ltd (20%), Oando (20%), and NNPC E&P Limited (60%). Additionally, NAOC operates the Okpai 1 and 2 power plants, with a combined capacity of 960 MW, and manages two onshore exploration leases, OPL 282 (90% ownership) and OPL 135 (48% ownership).

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