French oil giant, TotalEnergies, is in talks with another buyer after an $860 million sale of Nigerian oil assets broke down last week as Chappal Energies failed to raise enough money.
Speaking with investors on Monday, the chief executive of the energy company, Mr Patrick Pouyanne, said he was in talks with another buyer for the assets.
Last week, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission ,NUPRC, withdrew the approval for the sale of a 10% stake in TotalEnergies assets to Chappal Energies over the failure to meet financial commitments.
A day later, the upstream petroleum sector regulator in a statement clarified that the withdrawal of the ministerial consent does not in any way rule out the possibility of a future divestment by the interested parties provided such an asset sale is in line with extant laws.
Chappal failed to raise the $860 million valuation fee, and as a result TotalEnergies did not fulfil its requirement to pay regulatory fees and cover funds for environmental rehabilitation and future liabilities.
This failed deal leaves TotalEnergies saddled with its stake in a business which has struggled with hundreds of oil spills as a result of theft, sabotage, and operational issues that led to costly repairs and billions in debt.
In the same week, the French company sold an oilfield stake to Shell and Agip for $510 million.
The French giant plans to cut annual capital spending by $1 billion and sell more power assets.
The capex cut, to $15–17 billion a year for 2027 to 2030, is part of a drive to save $7.5 billion, the oil major said in a statement.
The group also said last week it planned to reduce quarterly share buybacks as it adapts to lower oil prices.
In July, Mr Pouyanne told investors in July that the Nigerian sale was one of three deals that would bring in $3.5 billion before year-end and lower the company’s debt-to-equity ratio.
AljazirahNigeria also learned that the group also plans to exit all power holdings outside of its strategic US, European, British and Brazilian markets.
