IOCs Expected to Complete These Nigeria Divestment Transactions in 2020

International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria are expected to forge ahead with the completion of a number of large transactions in 2020.
Analysts say that the international oil companies continue to seek opportunities to rationalise their portfolios as oil prices slide.
Examples of some of the transactions expected to close this year include: Exxon Mobil’s continued attempts to exit some of its Nigeria positions; Total’s marketing of its 12.5 percent stake in OML 118 located in offshore Nigeria; and Chevron’s marketing of its 40 percent share in shallow water OMLs 86 and 88.
The more hostile regulatory environment is also becoming an incentive for IOCs to sell assets in the country.
Nigeria is seeking to recover as much as $62 billion from international oil companies, using a 2018 Supreme Court the government says enables it to increase its share of income from production-sharing contracts or PSCs.
The government says energy companies failed to comply with a 1993 contract-law requirement that the state receive a greater share of revenue when the oil price exceeds $20 per barrel, according to a document prepared by the attorney-general’s office and the Justice Ministry.