The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) commission chief executive, Gbenga Komolafe, has said an asset sale deal between ExxonMobil and Seplat would be concluded in the next two weeks.
The final approval expected from the oil regulator would end a two-year delay since the deal was first agreed.
The $1.28 billion sale has awaited regulatory approval since 2022.
However Nigerian Komolafe told Reuters the companies would be invited to a meeting on Friday where the confirmation would be decided.
“Subject to the outcome of the meeting, consent could be given in less than two weeks from the date of the meeting,” he said.
The NUPRC would give the companies two mutually exclusive options that, if accepted, would permit approval of the deal, Komolafe said.
He did not spell out what these options were, but said the law requires money to be set aside for decommissioning, host community development and environmental remediation.
“As a commission, we don’t want our nation to carry unwarranted financial burdens arising from the operations of the assets over time by the divesting entities,” he said.
Spokespeople for ExxonMobil and Seplat declined to comment.
Nigeria relies on the commodity for more than 90 per cent of its foreign exchange and half its budget but output has declined in recent years due to underinvestment and theft.
Oil majors operating in Nigeria, including Shell and TotalEnergies have exited their onshore shallow water operations, citing security concerns, such as theft and sabotage, to focus on deepwater drilling.
Those moves have run into regulatory hurdles.
Analysts say approving the ExxonMobil- Seplat deal would inject much-needed capital into Nigeria’s oil industry, potentially leading to improved oil output, and also signal to investors that similar deals such as Shell’s asset sale to Renaissance in January are likely to get regulatory assent.
Former president Muhammadu Buhari initially consented to the transaction, but withdrew that consent days later after the oil regulator refused to sign off.
President Bola Tinubu, who took office last year, has made attracting investment a key priority.