Partner, PwC Nigeria, Pedro Omontuemhen, said the ongoing divestment by major international oil companies from Nigeria’s oil and gas sector paves the way for domestic producers to expand their market share and strengthen their presence in the industry.
He stressed that though upstream oil and gas investment in Nigeria has declined continuously in the last 9 years, there has been an uptick in investment in first quarter 2024 driven by shifts in asset ownership within the Nigerian onshore assets. “Increasing divestments by IOCs are allowing Nigerian independent producers to expand their market share. Global upstream operators are focusing on cost efficiency and shareholder returns, influencing investment decisions in Nigeria. IOCs are concentrating on resources with strong economics, lower emissions and reduced risk, leading to a withdrawal from less favored fields like onshore Nigeria,” he said.
He added that frequent regulatory changes and lack of transparency like the delayed passage of Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry Bill , create uncertainty and deter investment in M&A activities. Wema Bank says it has successfully concluded the first tranche of its recapitalisation exercise having secured all relevant regulatory approvals for the allotment of its N40 billion rights issue. Its Managing Director, Mr Moruf Oseni, disclosed this in a statement made available on Friday in Lagos. Oseni said as a forward-thinking and pioneering bank, the…
A Mexican billionaire and chairman of Salinas Group, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, has urged his followers to invest in Bitcoin following the depreciation of the naira. The naira's decline has been so severe that N1 is now worth less than one satoshi, the smallest unit of Bitcoin . Salinas, whose net worth stands at $12.7…