Seplat Energy Plc agreed to sell a 10% working interest in its joint venture with NNPC Ltd. to the state oil firm for about $281.6 million as the Lagos and London listed oil producer moves to cut debt and boost shareholder payouts.
The company's subsidiaries, Seplat Energy Offshore Ltd. and Seplat Energy Producing Nigeria Unlimited (SEPNU), signed a binding heads of agreement with NNPC Ltd. on Wednesday, Seplat said in a stock exchange filing Thursday. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the second half of 2026, with an effective date of April 1.
Once completed, NNPC's stake in the joint venture will rise to 70% from 60%, while SEPNU will hold 30% and remain operator. Seplat will continue to own SEPNU outright.
The joint venture traces back to Seplat's roughly $1.28 billion purchase of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited from ExxonMobil, a deal first announced in 2022 covering four offshore oil mining leases — OMLs 67, 68, 70 and 104 — along with the Qua Iboe export terminal, the Yoho FSO, and stakes in the Bonny River NGL terminal and the Oso and EAP gas projects.
Seplat plans to use roughly half the proceeds to pay down debt and the other half to reward shareholders. A further $100 million of debt is due to be repaid once the transaction closes, on top of $200 million already repaid this quarter under the Advanced Payment Facility, taking total targeted debt reduction to $300 million.
Shareholders are set to receive a transaction-related dividend of about $140 million, or 23.3 US cents a share, on top of Seplat's regular dividend tied to underlying business performance.
The sale will not alter 2026 production targets for the joint venture, though Seplat's guidance will be updated once the deal closes. The unit contributes about 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day at the midpoint of Seplat's 135,000-155,000 boe/d group guidance for 2026; adjusted for the April 1 effective date, that falls to roughly 65,000 boe/d.
Looking further out, Seplat's 2030 net working-interest production target drops to 170,000 boe/d from a previous goal of 200,000 boe/d. The company said it still expects to distribute 40%-50% of free cash flow over the 2026-2030 period and remains on track to return at least $1 billion cumulatively to shareholders.
Group 2P reserves would fall by about 13% to 872.9 million barrels of oil equivalent based on the transaction, pending an update after completion.
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