VenturesNow

Shell to leave Nigeria’s troubled onshore oil space

Published

10 months ago

January 16, 2024

Energy multinational, Shell, is concluding plans to end operations in Nigeria’s onshore oil and gas space after agreeing to sell its subsidiary there to a consortium of five mostly local companies for up to $2.4 billion.

Shell has been trying to sell its Nigerian oil and gas company since 2021; with this development, however, it will still be involved in the country’s more profitable and trouble-free offshore market.

The British major would sell The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) for a consideration of $1.3 billion, it said in a statement, while the buyers would make an additional payment of up to $1.1 billion pertaining to earlier receivables at completion.

The buyer, the Renaissance consortium, is made up of Petrolin, a trade and investment firm with headquarters in Switzerland, and the local oil exploration and production firms, ND Western, Aradel Energy, First E&P, and Waltersmith.

Shell, which has been the target of numerous lawsuits seeking damages for harm resulting from spills in the Niger Delta over the years, announced that Renaissance would assume responsibility for handling spills, theft, and sabotage.

Shell’s departure from Nigeria is part of a larger retreat by Western energy giants, which are concentrating on other, more lucrative ventures. Eni of Italy and Equinor (EQNR.OL) of Norway have recently reached agreements to sell assets in the nation.

Shell head of upstream, Zoë Yujnovich, said, “This agreement marks an important milestone for Shell in Nigeria, aligning with our previously announced intent to exit onshore oil production in the Niger Delta, simplifying our portfolio, and focusing future disciplined investment in Nigeria on our Deepwater and Integrated Gas positions.”

VenturesNow

IMF mission concludes 4th loan program assessment in Egypt

Published

7 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following the completion of a recent visit to Egypt, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that its mission had achieved significant strides in policy talks aimed at concluding the fourth review of the IMF loan program.

The review is the fourth in Egypt’s most recent 46-month IMF loan program, which was authorised in 2022 and increased to $8 billion this year following an economic crisis characterised by high inflation and chronic foreign exchange shortages. It may unleash more than $1.2 billion in financing.

Along with reaffirming its commitment to maintain a flexible exchange rate system, the IMF stated that Egypt “has implemented key reforms to preserve macroeconomic stability,” including the unification of the currency rate that facilitated imports.

Earlier on Wednesday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Cairo has asked the IMF to modify the targets for the programme not only for this year, but for its full duration, he added without giving more details.

“Discussions will continue over the coming days to finalize agreement on the remaining policies and reforms that could support the completion of the fourth review,” the IMF added in its statement.

VenturesNow

Kenya seeks $750m from World Bank, obtains $200m from AfDB— Official

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The head of debt management for the finance ministry told Reuters that Kenya had obtained a $200 million loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and was negotiating a fresh $750 million loan with the World Bank.

After being forced to abandon proposed tax rises costing more than 346 billion shillings ($2.68 billion) in June due to fatal demonstrations, the East African nation’s administration, which has been grappling with significant debt, has been frantically seeking fresh funding.

The Finance Ministry’s public debt management office director general, Raphael Owino, told Reuters that the IMF’s October clearance of the seventh and eighth reviews, which opened the door for a $606 million loan tranche, had aided the ministry’s talks for more loans.

“The World Bank is coming on board, riding on the back of IMF receipts,” Owino said. “The AfDB is already on board.”

The discussions for more assistance, which came under the World Bank’s “Development Policy Operations” (DPO) with the government, were confirmed by a representative at the organization’s Kenya office.

“The amount of the current (loan) is yet to be determined. The amount will also depend on the implementation of the policy reforms agreed upon,” the spokesperson told Reuters, adding that past DPO loans averaged about $750 million.

In May, the World Bank approved the latest round of DPO loans, totalling $1.2 billion.

According to a statement made last month by Finance Minister John Mbadi, Kenya has set a foreign borrowing goal of 168 billion shillings for the fiscal year ending in June 2025.