British oil giant Shell acquired an additional 10% stake in a Nigerian offshore oil field from France’s TotalEnergies, completing a $510 million deal that was first announced in May.
Shell’s Nigeria subsidiary now owns 65% of the deepwater Bonga field in southern Nigeria. The deal demonstrates the operational shift by international oil companies (IOC) into Nigeria’s offshore industry, turning away from onshore assets following a wave of theft and vandalism along oil pipelines.
Shell is one of at least four IOCs that have sold their onshore assets in the country to African operators in recent years. Companies such as Mauritius-based Chappal Energies and Nigeria’s Heirs Energies and Renaissance Africa Energy have become the new faces of the onshore scene. TotalEnergies sold its remaining 2.5% in Bonga to a Nigerian subsidiary of Italy’s ENI while gaining two other offshore oil blocks in September.