TotalEnergies has agreed to sell a 40 per cent stake in two exploration licences offshore Nigeria to Chevron, marking a renewed wave of portfolio realignments.
The company said on Monday that the divestment covers the PPL 2000 and 2001 licences in the prolific West Delta basin, where it will retain operatorship with a 40 per cent interest.
Chevron’s entry at 40 per cent alongside South Atlantic Petroleum with 20 per cent forms a new joint venture designed to accelerate exploration work and de-risk future development.
The announcement extends the companies’ emerging offshore partnership, coming months after TotalEnergies acquired a 25 per cent working interest in a portfolio of 40 Chevron-operated exploration blocks in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
Senior Vice-President Exploration at TotalEnergies, Nicola Mavilla, said the new joint venture aims at de-risking and developing new opportunities in Nigeria in line with the objectives of the country.
“After launching our joint venture in US offshore exploration in June, we’re delighted to now expand our collaboration to Nigeria to unlock new resources in the West Delta basin,” Mavilla said.
The company stressed that Nigeria remained a strategic asset for TotalEnergies, contributing 209,000 boe/d in 2024, making Africa’s biggest oil producer one of the company’s most significant upstream hubs.
It added that the renewed exploration drive aligns with the Federal Government’s push to reverse output declines, stabilise production amid years of theft and vandalism, and attract fresh capital into the sector.
The move also fits into a broader trend of international oil companies stepping up commitments in Nigeria’s deep-water terrain.
Last week, Shell completed the acquisition of an additional 10 per cent interest in OML 118’s Production Sharing Contract, raising its stake in the Bonga field from 55 per cent to 65 per cent and reinforcing its strategy to grow upstream output.
The investments come as Nigeria launches its 2025 oil licensing round, now driven directly by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), signalling President Bola Tinubu’s intent to boost production, court global investors and steer Africa’s largest economy toward his $1 trillion GDP target.
