Now TotalEnergies to exit Nigeria oil business

French energy giant TotalEnergies is set to sell its onshore business in Nigeria, its CEO Patrick Pouyanne said, noting that operating in the Niger Delta is a ‘real difficulty.’ This follows Shell announcing last month that it was selling its onshore property – the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) – after decades of operation in Nigeria, The Guardian Nigeria reports. TotalEnergies owns 10% in SPDC. ‘We want to divest our share of SPDC, and we are looking to reshape the portfolio,’ Pouyanne said last week. ‘Fundamentally it’s because producing this oil in the Niger Delta is not in line with our (health, security and environmental) policies, it’s a real difficulty.’ TotalEnergies, however, will not divest from its Nigerian gas business. Pouyanne described the gas business as crucial for the company’s planned expansion of liquefied natural gas development in coming years. The sale of the company’s onshore business still depends on regulatory approval. However, TotalEnergies said in an email statement the same day it announced the plan to offload its onshore business that it will start the start of production from the Akpo West field ... which 'fits the company’s strategy of developing low-cost and low-emission projects', Mike Sangster, senior-vice president Africa, exploration and production, at TotalEnergies.