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Nigeria Set to Sign Off on Exxon Asset Sale Within 120 Days

Storage tanks at the Esso refinery, operated by Exxon Mobil Corp., in the industrial port area in Fos-sur-Mer, France, on Wednesday, March 29, 2023. A fleet of tankers carrying millions of barrels of oil is backed up off the coast of France as strikes over pension reform rumble on. Photographer: Jeremy Suyker/Bloomberg (Jeremy Suyker/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Nigerian regulators said they expect to formally consent to Exxon Mobil Corp.’s sale of its oil and gas assets to Seplat Energy Plc within four months, ending a hiatus that has stalled the conclusion of a transaction that was first announced in February 2022.

The approval process should be completed within the 120-day legal timeframe, the Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission said in a statement on Monday.

Nigeria’s state oil company in May said it reached an agreement that would allow Exxon to proceed with the asset disposal. Seplat, a local energy supplier, agreed to acquire them for $1.3 billion, a deal that could almost quadruple its oil output to more than 130,000 barrels a day. 

Former President Muhammadu Buhari backed the transaction, but approval was later reversed amid objections from the regulator.

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