TotalEnergies' planned sale of its 10% stake in Nigeria’s Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) JV to Mauritius-based Chappal Energies has suffered a major setback, per Retuers.
In July 2024, TotalEnergies agreed to sell its 10% interest in SPDC JV, part of a broader wave of divestments by international oil companies exiting Nigeria’s onshore oil assets. The deal, valued at $860 million, received ministerial approval in October 2024 but was contingent on financial commitments, including regulatory fees and funds for environmental rehabilitation and future liabilities. NUPRC spokesperson Eniola Akinkuoto stated that both TotalEnergies and Chappal Energies failed to meet these obligations despite repeated deadline extensions, prompting the commission to withdraw its consent. Neither company provided comment on the matter.
A source familiar with the negotiations revealed that Chappal Energies struggled to raise the $860 million required for the purchase, which in turn prevented TotalEnergies from fulfilling its financial obligations to the Nigerian government. The collapse of the deal leaves TotalEnergies holding its stake in SPDC JV, which operates 15 oil-producing licenses that generated approximately 14,000 barrels of oil-equivalent per day for the company in 2023, as well as three gas-producing licenses supplying 40% of Nigeria LNG’s gas.
The SPDC joint venture comprises the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (55%), Shell Petroleum Development Company (30%), TotalEnergies EP Nigeria (10%), and Eni’s Nigerian Agip Oil Company (5%). The failed transaction complicates TotalEnergies’ goal to raise $3.5 billion through asset sales by year-end to lower its debt-to-equity ratio, which reached 28% by mid-2025, including leases and hybrid debt.
The SPDC JV operation has faced challenges from hundreds of oil spills caused by theft, sabotage, and operational issues, leading to costly repairs and environmental damage. The failed deal follows other divestments in Nigeria, including Shell’s completion of a $2.4 billion sale of its 30% SPDC JV stake to the Renaissance Africa Energy Consortium, comprising local oil companies ND Western Limited, Aradel Holdings Plc, FIRST Exploration and Petroleum Development Company Limited (FIRST E&P), Waltersmith Group, and international energy firm Petrolinin, in March 2025.
Chappal Energies, which specializes in managing mature and distressed upstream assets in the Niger Delta, acquired Equinor’s Nigerian assets for $1.2 billion in 2024, backed by Mauritius Commercial Bank and commodities trader Trafigura. However, the company has not disclosed its financial backers for the proposed TotalEnergies deal.
In another deal, TotalEnergies is awaiting regulatory approval and other customary conditions for its $510 million sale of a 12.5% non-operated interest in the OML118 Production Sharing Contract, including the Bonga and Bonga North fields, to Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company.
The OML118 PSC, operated by Shell (55%) with partners Esso Exploration (20%), TotalEnergies (12.5%), and Nigerian Agip Exploration (12.5%).
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