Major oil producers have been reducing crude production in West Africa and shifting investments to lower-carbon natural gas development on the continent, and to more lucrative projects in the Americas. Large-scale oil theft from pipelines have throttled exports and forced some companies to shut production. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Six Nigerian states drop bid to annul presidential election ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Sabrina Valle; Editing by Richard Chang)
By Sabrina Valle
HOUSTON, March 6(Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp hopes to get Nigerian government approval to allow the stalled
sale of its shallow water oil production operations in the West
African country, a top Exxon executive told Reuters.
The largest U.S. oil company will keep its deep-water assets
in Nigeria despite a change in the government's leadership,
Exxon Global Upstream President Liam Mallon said ahead of the
CERAweek energy conference by S&PGlobal in Houston starting
Monday.
Nigeria last year lost its position as Africa's top oil
producer as major producers like Shell PLC and
TotalEnergies have sold assets and exited the country
amid widespread corruption and security issues.
Exxon one year ago disclosed plans to sell its $1.2 billion
in shallow-water assets in Nigeria. But the government in August
withheld its initial approval without providing an explanation.
President-elect Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC) party won last week's general election, and is
due to replace his party mate Muhammadu Buhari. However,
opponents and independent observers have vowed to challenge the
results due to logistical failures that dramatically reduced
turnout.
Exxon's buyer for the shallow water properties, Nigeria's
Seplat Energy Plc, had said it was working with the government
to get the deal approved before the new president is sworn in
two months from now.
The country "remains a challenging place to work in," Mallon
said. Exxon made "a clear commitment" to stay in Nigeria through
its deep-water operations, but future investments will be
subject to market conditions.
Mallon will speak on Monday on a CERAweek panel about energy
security alongside Nigerian National Petroleum Corp Chief
Executive Mele Kyari.
"We are not leaving," Mallon said. "The deep water in
Nigeria remains an attractive opportunity, but it has to compete
with other opportunities around the world."
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