The Federal Government has announced the completion of two major divestment deals in Nigeria's oil sector. The first deal involves the acquisition of a 100% stake in Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) by Oando Plc, while the second deal is between Equinor and Project Odinmim.

The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, disclosed that the NAOC-Oando and Equinor-Project Odinmim deals, collectively worth around $1.5 billion, have been completed.

He also provided updates on other major divestment deals, including the $2.4 billion Shell Petroleum Development Company and Renaissance deal, as well as the $1.2 billion ExxonMobil and Seplat deal.

Komolafe further announced that Nigeria's functional oil rigs increased to 34 as of June 2024, a significant improvement compared to the drop in rig count to around 10 in 2022.

Additionally, the NUPRC has put 31 oil blocks on offer for bidding in the 2024 Licensing Round, which commenced on April 29, 2024, and the registration exercise is set to close by midnight on Friday, July 5, 2024.