Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) has notified the Nigerian government
that it is interested in buying some of U.S. firm Chevron Corp.'s (CVX)
Nigeria oil licenses, said a senior Nigerian government official
Thursday.
The move would be a rare acquisition by an international
energy company in Nigeria, where oil companies have in recent years
generally exited acreage amid mounting security risks. It could also
herald Shell's exit from long-dormant oil assets in the Ogoniland
region, where strident local opposition to its presence has prevented
the company from producing oil since the 1990s.
"Shell has signalled it wants to sell some blocks," the
government official said. "Shell is also interested in Chevron blocks in
the swamps."
Shell declined to comment.
Separately, Shell said Thursday that it is carrying out a
"strategic portfolio review" that could lead it to sell leases in the
eastern Niger Delta that currently give the company between 80,000 and
100,000 barrels a day of oil equivalent.
Shell Chief Executive Peter Voser said that while Shell would
reduce its presence in some parts of the Delta, particularly the east
where "sabotage is clearly a great concern to us," it would still invest
in others.
"We will not leave the onshore completely," said Mr. Voser.
"In the more pure oil play, in the eastern part, we will be less
represented over time, but it doesn't mean we go out of onshore."
The Anglo-Dutch oil company has put four of its own Niger
Delta oil blocks up for sale, including two oil blocks in Ogoniland, two
people close to the sale process said.
"Shell has informed potentially interested local players that
the blocks OML 13, 16, 71 and 72 are for sale," said one of the people,
adding that the sales could fetch between $1 billion and $1.5 billion in
total.
Buying Chevron's blocks would effectively allow Shell to
reduce its presence in the more challenging areas while retaining enough
assets to feed Shell's existing pipelines. Blocks OML 13 and 16 lie in
Ogoniland, where opposition following Nigeria's execution of local
environment campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995 has played a large part in
preventing the company from resuming production.
Shell has already sold off other assets in the Niger Delta,
where it has maintained the longest presence of any foreign oil company.
Last year, Shell agreed to sell its most prolific oil block to a local
consortium backed by U.K. explorer Heritage Oil PLC (HOIL.LN) for $850
million.
Shell's local joint venture doesn't want to leave the Delta region, however, said a person familiar with Shell's thinking.
The Shell-led joint venture, Shell Petroleum Development
Company of Nigeria, could put Chevron's assets in the region to good
use, he said.
"Chevron's fields are better secured and still have plenty of oil in them," the person said.
Shell is the operator of SPDC's assets and owns 30% of the
joint venture. Its partners include the state-owned Nigerian National
Petroleum Corp. with a 55% stake, France's Total SA (TOT) with 10% and
Italian firm Eni with 5%.
Chevron and Total declined to comment, and Eni wasn't immediately available for comment.