{"id":5326,"date":"2013-06-22T00:26:13","date_gmt":"2013-06-22T00:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigeria-news\/shell-mulls-more-asset-sales-in-nigeria\/"},"modified":"2013-06-22T00:26:13","modified_gmt":"2013-06-22T00:26:13","slug":"shell-mulls-more-asset-sales-in-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/shell-mulls-more-asset-sales-in-nigeria\/","title":{"rendered":"Shell mulls more asset sales in Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Oil giant Shell announced Friday 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.<\/p>\n
The British-Dutch firm, Nigeria’s biggest producer, also said it was planning to invest $ 3.9 billion (3 billion euros) on gas projects and pipeline work.<\/p>\n
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 $ 1.8 billion, it said.<\/p>\n
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 $ 6 billion per year in revenue.<\/p>\n
Analysts say Shell appears willing to shift more of its focus offshore, where the threat of sabotage and theft is far lower.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The company “has been following a strategy of selective divestments of its onshore portfolio, concentrating the operating footprint into a smaller, more contiguous area …”<\/p>\n
It added that the sales were also in line with the government’s push for more local involvement in the oil industry.<\/p>\n
Multinationals that have also recently announced the sale of assets in Nigeria include Chevron and ConocoPhillips. However, French oil giant Total said Friday it would begin work on the Egina field offshore Nigeria. <\/p>\n