Following reports on the failed assets acquisition deal between Seplat Energy and ExxonMobil, investigation has shown that the state oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, has made a mouth-watering offer to acquire the assets, sources close to the deal disclosed to The PUNCH.

ExxonMobil and Seplat Energy had recently announced a $1.6bn sales agreement deal that would see Seplat purchase ExxonMobil’s complete shares in the state-owned oil firm.

However, just when all hopes were high for the completion of the deal, a letter dated May 16, 2022, by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission to ExxonMobil, stated that the deal could no longer hold because the NNPC had exercised its right of pre-emption first refusal on the assets as part of a new era to focus solely on building the long-term profitability of the NNPC Ltd.

Right of pre-emption is a legal right to parties in a joint venture to be the first to be considered for any planned sale or takeover of assets in the JVs if either party chooses to trade them off.

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According to findings, the NNPC objected to the sale of ExxonMobil’s equity to Seplat, and insisted on exercising its first right of refusal, after which the Corporation made an offer above $1.6bn to ExxonMobil.

The state-owned oil firm is the major shareholder in the Joint Ventures (JV) with ExxonMobil.

The NNPC will officially debut in July, and The PUNCH gathered that its bid to acquire ExxonMobil’s assets is part of the Corporation’s expansion plan.

Seplat Energy had made the winning bid, having staked $1.583bn for the deals to acquire the entire share capital of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited plus contingent consideration, with the asset transfer waiting for the minister’s assent.

In a letter sighted by The PUNCH in March, signed by Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, and addressed to ExxonMobil, the NNPC reiterated its resolve to take over ExxonMobil’s share of the assets.

“We are aware that you reached an agreement to divest from onshore and shallow waters JVs,” the NNPC said in the letter, stating “clearly we are interested.”

The NNPC also reiterated, in the letter, that it had already transformed from being a corporation to being a profit-driven company and that it now had the capacity to buy over the share of ExxonMobil in the Joint Ventures.

This means that the state-owned oil firm must have, based on its exercise of right of first refusal, paid above the $1.583bn mark offered by Seplat.

Sources disclosed that the Corporation must have parted with as much as $2 billion for the assets.

Recall that the NNPC recently announced a funding agreement with AFREXIM for up to $5 billion to grow its investment in new and existing upstream assets.

Both Seplat and ExxonMobil declined to comment on the development.

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The PUNCH had contacted an official of the External Relations Department of Seplat, Mr. Stanley Opara, who asked that an official email should be sent to him and the company’s Director, External Affairs & Sustainability Officer, Chioma Nwachuku.

The PUNCH correspondent did send the email. However, no response was received as of press time. Also, the spokesperson for ExxonMobil, Oge Udeagha, who requested an official email, did not also respond as of the time of filing this report.

The spokesperson for NNPC, Garba Deen Muhammed’s, phone was switched off when our correspondent called his line to get a response.

PUNCH.