The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has denied claims that it sold its onshore oil assets to Renaissance Consortium for $1.3 billion.
In an affidavit filed on May 24, 2024, SPDC’s legal team stated that the company “did not sell its onshore assets and facilities in Nigeria to anyone.”
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This development is part of an ongoing legal battle between SPDC, Global Gas and Refining Limited, and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Global Gas and Refining Limited had sought an injunction to prevent NUPRC from approving the sale of SPDC’s assets, alleging that Shell had failed to supply wet gas to it as agreed in a 2002 Gas Processing Agreement.
However, SPDC’s legal team argued that the dispute between the companies is already before the Supreme Court for final determination.
“The share sale transaction did not and will not affect the 1st Respondent’s 30 percent participating interest in eighteen (18) Oil Mining Leases (“OML”) that are currently part of the 1st Respondent’s Joint Venture,” said Mr. Kingsley Osuh, a member of SPDC’s legal team.
Osuh added, “The sale of the shares held by the shareholder of the 1st Respondent neither impacts the 1st Respondent’s continued corporate existence as a Nigerian registered company nor its assets.”
This latest development comes after Shell agreed to sell its onshore subsidiary, SPDC, to Renaissance Consortium for up to $2.4 billion in January last year.
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“The dispute between our company and Globus Gas is already before the Supreme Court for final determination,” Osuh said.
Global Gas and Refining Limited’s Executive Chairman, Mr. Kenneth Yelowe, had earlier stated that unless the court grants an order temporarily safeguarding the “assets” in dispute from being sold, its 2002 business deal with Shell may be jeopardized.
