Shell has reportedly initiated negotiations with local oil producers for selling two of its Nigerian oil licences in the Niger Delta, collectively worth $2 billion.
The Anglo-Dutch petrochemical giant is in talks about selling its Oil Mining Licenses (OMLs) 11 and 17, according to sources familiar with the planned deal.
Sources close to the matter revealed that the deal would involve selling essential infrastructure assets as well, including a natural gas-fired power plant that will be managed by Transactional Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp).
They further disclosed that initially, talks between Shell and the local buyers were at an advanced stage. OML 11 is one of the biggest blocks in south-east part of Niger Delta and has 33 oil and gas fields, eight of which were producing as of 2017.
As per records, oil mining licence 17 falls within oil corporation NNPC/Shell joint venture and includes 15 oil and gas fields, out of which six are actively producing oil at the moment. Post the sale, Shell will be able to focus on its deepwater operations where the frequency of theft and threat of attacks on infrastructure are quite low.
