By Aduragbemi Omiyale
An indigenous energy company, Oando Plc, has expressed its desire to invest in other markets apart from Nigeria, noting that it is open to future mergers and acquisitions across the continent as it makes efforts to ramp up production.
In 2024, Oando sealed its acquisition of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) owned by Italian oil giant, Eni, which has spurred its share price to soar at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The firm intends to achieve a production of 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2028 with this deal, contributing to Nigeria’s oil production and goal of exceeding 2 million bpd.
In a chat with Bloomberg’s Jennifer Zabasajja at an event recently, an executive director of Oando, Mr Alex Irune, said the company has not limited itself to Nigeria for energy assets acquisition.
“We’re always looking to do a deal. We stay where we have a comparative advantage, but we don’t rule out any markets.
“Nigeria is the first place we look – we have an immense amount of potential. As a leading energy company, we owe it to the country to reach that potential,” he stated.
Speaking on the NAOC transaction, he assured that Oando will maximise the development of assets acquired through its deal, which increased its stake in OMLs 60, 61, 62 and 63 to 40 per cent and nearly doubled its reserves to one billion barrels of oil equivalent.
According to him, the company’s ownership in NAOC’s joint venture assets will also grow, including 40 oil and gas fields, 12 production stations, and key infrastructure including pipelines, processing plants and the Brass River Oil Terminal.
He expressed confidence that local oil firms will dominate crude oil production in Nigeria unlike in the past when the International Oil Companies (IOCs) were in charge.
“In the space of 24 months, you’re going to see about 60 per cent to 70 per cent [of crude oil production in Nigeria will be] by indigenous players, just based on the transition of IOCs to the deep offshore and the acquisitions we have seen, whether it’s Seplat, our deal or the ongoing Renaissance deal,” Mr Irune noted.
He attributed this to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) signed by the immediate past president of Nigeria, Mr Muhammadu Buhari. The Oando-NAOC deal was the first merger and acquisition (M&A) transaction under the PIA.
