The Aiteo Group-led consortium has acquired Shell’s equity shares in oil mining lease (OML) 29 for $2.7 billion which the company has just divested from.
The group is now the majority stakeholder in the acquisition deal with an 85 percent equity stake.
A breakdown of the share holding of the group indicates that Aiteo Energy Resources Limited has a total volume of 2.294 billion shares, Tempo holding 270 million shares with its 10 percent equity, and Taleveras holding 135 million shares. All these put together shows that the consortium has a total number of 2.7 billion units of shares.
Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), which operates the lease, has sold its 30 percent equity in both the field and the Nembe pipeline just as it partners, Total and Italy’s Eni S.P.A., also sold off their 10 percent and five percent equity, respectively, to the consortium.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) retains the asset balance of 55 percent under a joint operating agreement.
Oseyemi Oluwatuyi of the communications department of the group, while confirming the real cost of the oil block, put the total cost of acquisition at $2.7 billion, stating that while $2.562 billion was the actual cost for the acquisition of the oil block and Nembe pipeline, additional funds have also been earmarked as working capital.
According to her, contrary to erroneous reports, the Aiteo Group-led consortium – not Taleveras Group – is the majority stakeholder in the deal with an 85 percent equity stake.
She said: “Therefore, it is total misinformation in the local and international media that it is the ‘Taleveras-led consortium’ that acquired OML 29 divested by Shell.”
Oluwatuyi further noted that it had become necessary to correct the mislead ing media reports about the acquisition of OML 29, the most prolific of the oil blocks sold off by Shell, after noting the discrepancy reported on numerous occasions.
It has been estimated that OML 29 has a proven and probable reserves (P1+P2) that is in the region of about 2.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, while its hydrocarbon fields could deliver as much as 160,000 barrels of oil per day and 300 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmsc/d) at peak output.
The group is a vertically integrated energy company, expanding its global footprint and scope from oil & gas and power into fully diversified conglomerate with investments across key economic sectors including mining, agriculture, financial services, real estate and infrastructure.
While the Aiteo Group consortium beat out several indigenous and international companies as the preferred bidder for OML 29 and the Nembe pipeline, not everyone walked away empty-handed in the sale of onshore oil blocks.
