By Dipo Olowookere
American multinational energy giant, Chevron, is looking to sell-off its oil fields in Nigeria and concentrate on the United States market.
The Nigerian subsidiary operates and holds a 40 percent interest in eight blocks in the onshore and near-onshore regions of the Niger Delta under a joint venture with the federal government-owned National Petroleum Company (NNPC).
According to Reuters, the San Ramon, California-based company is look for buyers for the oil blocs and talks are already ongoing to finalise the deals.
Relying on information from two sources, the reputable global journal said, “The discussions are being held directly with potential buyers and Chevron is not planning to launch a tender process for the assets at this stage.”
Nigeria is the third largest producer of oil in the world and the largest in Africa. The country relies heavily on crude oil to survive, though efforts are being made by the present administration of Mr Muhammadu Buhari to explore other non-oil sectors.
It was reported that Chevron is looking for buyers for a number of its the onshore and shallow offshore fields, where local producers have expanded their presence.
In 2018, the company’s production in Nigeria reached 194,000 barrels of crude oil per day, 233 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and 6,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) per day, according to its website.
Chevron is active in more than 180 countries and is engaged in every aspect of the oil, natural gas, and geothermal energy industries, including hydrocarbon exploration and production; refining, marketing and transport; chemicals manufacturing and sales; and power generation.
In Nigeria, the energy firm also has extensive interests in multi-partner deepwater operations, operating the Agbami Field, one of Nigeria’s largest deepwater discoveries. It also has a non-operated interest in the Usan Field.
Chevron operates and has a 55 percent interest in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 140. The block lies in roughly 8,000 feet (2,438 m) of water, 90 miles (145 km) off the coast of the western Niger Delta region, and includes the Nsiko discoveries. A 3-D seismic data acquisition program is planned for OML 140 and the adjacent OML 132 in 2019.
In 2018, the company continued to evaluate development options for the multiple discoveries in the Usan area, including the Owowo Field.
The company is involved in natural gas projects in the western Niger Delta and Escravos areas, including the Escravos Gas Plant (EGP), the Escravos Gas-to-Liquids (EGTL) facility and the Sonam Field Development Project.
CNL operates the EGP, which has a total capacity of 680 million cubic feet per day of natural gas and LPG and a condensate export capacity of 58,000 barrels per day. Chevron and the NNPC operate the EGTL facility, a 33,000-barrel-per-day gas-to-liquids plant.
Adedapo Adesanya