Nigeria Says Shell Will Need Government Approval to Sell Assets

Nigeria’s Oil Minister said Royal Dutch Shell Plc will need government approval to sell oilfields following a report that it plans to sell as much as $5 billion of assets in the West African nation.

Shell, Europe’s biggest energy company, is planning to sell stakes in several onshore Nigerian oilfields, the Sunday Times reported yesterday. Potential buyers may include China’s Sinopec and Nigeria’s Oando Plc, the newspaper said.
“It’s not theirs to sell,” Minister of Petroleum Rilwanu Lukman said by phone from Abuja today. “They’re holding concessions given them by the government.”

Shell’s onshore facilities bore the brunt of recent attacks by militants seeking a greater share of Nigeria’s oil wealth. Legislation before parliament will impose tougher conditions on international producers active in the country as Shell undertakes a global review of its operations to cut costs.

Shell would require government approval before pressing ahead with a sale, Lukman said. No such request has been made, as far as he’s aware. Wendel Broere, a spokesman at The Hague- based Shell, declined to comment.

Bloomberg