LAGOS: Oil giant Shell announced yesterday that it may sell more of its onshore oil blocks in Nigeria, where theft and sabotage have repeatedly cut into production in Africa’s largest crude producer.
The British-Dutch firm, Nigeria’s biggest producer, also said the joint venture its Nigerian subsidiary operates was planning to invest $3.9bn on gas projects and pipeline work. Shell said it may continue with efforts to sell off its interests in onshore oil blocks. It has sold its interests in eight blocks since 2010 for a total of $1.8b, it said.
A number of multinationals have recently announced asset sales in Nigeria, which has been hit hard by oil theft, with some estimates that it costs the country $6bn per year in revenue. Analysts say Shell appears willing to shift more of its focus offshore, where the threat of sabotage and theft is far lower.
Shell’s statement spoke of “the initiation of a strategic review, consultation with partners, and the potential exit from the interests it holds in some further onshore leases in the eastern part of the Niger Delta” region.
AFP
