Eni to sell Nigerian assets
Eni SpA, Italy’s largest oil company, is considering selling part or all of its onshore Nigerian operations as it seeks to divest peripheral businesses amid a drop in oil prices, Bloomberg reports.
Eni has asked advisers to look at options for the assets, which include interests in oil and natural-gas fields in the West African country.
Depending on what Eni decides to sell, the transaction may raise from $2 billion to $5 billion. It could also decide to keep the operations.
Eni’s Chief Executive Officer Claudio Descalzi has announced plans to sell assets worth 8 billion euros ($8.8 billion) in 2015-2018, including shares in subsidiaries Galp Energia SGPS and Snam SpA. He also proposed a 17 percent cut in investment over the same four years compared to previous plans to adjust to lower prices.
Eni’s wholly owned subsidiary in the country, Nigerian Agip Oil Co., operates under a joint-venture agreement with Nigeria’s state oil company NNPC and ConocoPhillips. NAOC also operates two onshore exploration licences.