…NUPRC meets with both companies, considering to approve the deal in less than two weeks under three conditions.
…insist the companies must allocate funds for decommissioning, host community development, and environmental remediation.
Exxon Mobil’s $1.3 billion asset sale to Seplat Energy could be approved in less than two weeks, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) told Reuters on Thursday, putting an end to a two-year delay since the initial agreement.
According to the statement, NUPRC chief executive Gbenga Komolafe told Reuters the companies would be invited to a meeting on Friday.
“Subject to the outcome of the meeting, consent could be given in less than two weeks from the date of the meeting,” he said.
NUPRC would give the companies two mutually exclusive options that, if accepted, would permit approval of the deal, Komolafe said.
He did not spell out what these options were but said the law requires money to be set aside for decommissioning, host community development, and environmental remediation.
“As a commission, we don’t want our nation to carry unwarranted financial burdens arising from the operations of the assets over time by the divesting entities,” he said.