Ejiofor
In the past decade, a total of 26 Oil Mining licences have been divested by the IOCs in the Niger Basin area of Nigeria with even more to be sold in the near future.
Shell intends to sell off approximately 2.3 billion worth of oil and gas assets, while Enis divestment plan amounts to about 5 billion, and ExxonMobil is looking to offload 15 billion of its assets.
There is a lack of sustainability practices, environmental commitments and fewer reporting standards by the local oil and gas players especially in the Niger Delta area located in the south of the country.
For instance, in the Nembe region, where settlements tend to emerge from dense mangrove swamps, locals recounted that oil spewed uncontrollably for more than one month before some interventions were put in place to halt the leakage.
In the past few months, the government has succeeded in leading the bidding rounds for 57 marginal oilfields with approximately 130 firms being granted Petroleum Prospecting Licences (PPLs) to develop the fields.
Impact on climate change
The sale of oil assets and infrastructure by the IOCs in Nigeria is in keeping with their obligation to ensure energy transition mostly as a result of campaigns from several quarters to further curb climate change.