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Nigeria: French oil giant, TotalEnergies, joins train to sell stake in onshore oil production

Published

2 years ago

April 29, 2022

The wave of multinationals leaving African countries has continued as French oil major TotalEnergies has announced it will put up for sale its minority stake in a Nigerian oil joint venture.

TotalEnergies Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Pouyanne, was quoted by international media – Bloomberg that “disruption of local communities are sources of great concern in the country,”

The firm attributed its plans to join the bandwagon of other oil majors and sell its stake in an onshore oil production joint venture in Nigeria to the disruption of local communities which has become a source of great concern.

Last year, Royal Dutch Shell, entered talks with the Nigerian government to sell the Anglo-Dutch company’s stake in onshore oilfields, CEO Ben van Beurden.

In February, Seplat Energy Plc, unveiled plans to acquire the entire share capital of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU) from Exxon Mobil Corporation Delaware (USA Incorporated). That includes all of Exxon’s entire shallow water assets in the Niger Delta.

The French energy giant will look to offload its 10 percent interest in a firm that holds 20 onshore and shallow water permits in the West African country, Mr. Pouyanne said.

Shell Plc, the operator of the licenses, is already considering bids from four local firms for its 30 percent shareholding in the company,” he said.

African countries have experienced departures of multinationals. Last month, ride-hailing company, Uber, suspended its services in Tanzania as a result of regulations that are not business-friendly which has made its operation in the East African country. Standard Chartered Bank also announced it has ended its operations in some African countries earlier this month.

Related Topics:Featured onshore oil production TotalEnergies

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Finance minister says reduced oil prices pressuring Angola

Published

1 hour ago

October 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Angola’s finance minister has told journalists that falling oil prices put “lots of pressure” on the nation, predicting that prices would average between $70 and $72 per barrel in 2024 as opposed to $75.

In an interview conducted on the fringes of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Washington, Finance Minister Vera Daves de Sousa stated that the government of the continent’s second-largest crude oil exporter will likewise keep phasing down fuel subsidies.

“How many steps we didn’t decide yet, but our idea is to do it in steps,” she said, confirming that subsidies were amounting to around 4% of GDP this year.

At the start of this year, Angola departed from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

On Friday, Brent crude futures rose 2.25% to $76.05 a barrel. Analysts have cautioned that next year’s high supply and weak demand will put pressure on oil prices.

According to Daves de Sousa, the administration will submit its budget to Parliament the following week, and during the next few days, the numbers regarding the amount of outside funding that will be required will be finalised.

Angola is considering internally whether to apply for a loan program from the International Monetary Fund, she said.

“We asked for a note with options of programs in case we request, and considering our current situation, what they understand as a good program for us,” she said.

According to her, the administration was also looking at other options, such as combining funds from domestic banks and capital markets with support from other multilateral sources like the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

Angola’s most recent IMF program, worth $3.7 billion, was approved in December 2018 after the country’s earnings were severely damaged by the collapse of global petroleum prices.

Angola’s finance minister has told journalists that falling oil prices puts “lots of pressure” on the nation, predicting that prices would average between $70 and $72 per barrel in 2024 as opposed to $75.

“How many steps we didn’t decide yet, but our idea is to do it in steps,” she said, confirming that subsidies were amounting to around 4% of GDP this year.

At the start of this year, Angola departed from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

On Friday, Brent crude futures rose 2.25% to $76.05 a barrel. Analysts have cautioned that next year’s high supply and weak demand will put pressure on oil prices.

Angola is considering internally whether to apply for a loan program from the International Monetary Fund, she said.

“We asked for a note with options of programs in case we request, and considering our current situation, what they understand as a good program for us,” she said.

Angola’s most recent IMF program, worth $3.7 billion, was approved in December 2018 after the country’s earnings were severely damaged by the collapse of global petroleum prices.

VenturesNow

IMF recommends exporting African countries make crucial changes. Here’s why

Published

1 hour ago

October 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Abebe Aemro Selassie, director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Africa, has stated that countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that rely on commodity exports must change their economies to address uneven regional economic growth.

According to the IMF’s most recent World Economic Outlook, which was released this week, the region is predicted to develop by 3.6% this year, which is unchanged from last year and lower than an April prediction of 3.8%. Commodity economies are likely to lag behind their more diverse rivals.

According to the IMF’s assessment, the growth of the commodity-intensive nations is around half that of the rest of the region, with oil exporters bearing the brunt of what it called “subdued and uneven” regional growth.

“South Sudan, Nigeria, Angola are all very much in that camp,” Abebe told Reuters.

The IMF’s regional economic outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa was released on Friday, and while diverse economies like Senegal and Tanzania are predicted to develop at a rate higher than the regional average, Nigeria would only grow at a rate of 2.9%.

“They have had very large macroeconomic imbalances, financing challenges which have held back growth,” Abebe said.

He claimed that because those issues had led to rising inflation and pressure on the expense of living, the Nigerian government needed to “squarely address” them.

The administration of President Bola Tinubu has started a number of measures that it claims are intended to boost economic expansion and draw in foreign investment. The IMF predicted that South Africa, whose growth has been hampered by debilitating power outages, would expand by 1.1% this year.

The IMF stated that armed conflicts are also impeding growth, pointing to the fact that South Sudan’s oil exports are impeded by fighting in neighbouring Sudan, where the crude export pipeline is located.

“They (oil exporters) need to find new sources of growth, get more private sector investment – so working on reforms that will facilitate that is important,” Abebe said.

According to the IMF research, Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic growth is anticipated to improve marginally to 4.2% in the upcoming year.

Although Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for almost half of the world’s 20 fastest-growing economies this year, the research issued a warning that greater growth rates were necessary to combat pervasive poverty and inequality.

According to the IMF, as nations grapple with high debt loads and high debt servicing costs, one of the primary barriers to higher growth is a lack of access to inexpensive financing.

The fresh money was expensive, even though some nations were able to sell bonds on global capital markets this year after a two-year break brought on by geopolitical shocks and high interest rates in developed nations like the US.

“The old development finance architecture is not delivering, and, if anything, kind of is in the process of disintegrating,” Abebe said, citing “very problematic levels” of official bilateral funding for poor countries.