Yemisi Izuora
Seplat Energy is servicing its debt profile which hit $370.7 million in 2025 with part of proceeds from $281.6 million raised from sale of an additional stake in four oil blocks acquired from U.S. group ExxonMobil.
Seplat said that it had signed a binding agreement to sell a 10 per cent interest in the assets for $281.6 million.
The transaction covers OML 67, 68, 70 and 104, which Seplat acquired in December 2024 through its purchase of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, or MPNU, for a final price of $800 million. MPNU was subsequently renamed Seplat Energy Producing Nigeria Unlimited, or SEPNU. Seplat said the sale price represents about 25 per cent of the acquisition cost.
The deal is effective from April 1, 2026, and is expected to close in the second half of the year, subject to regulatory approvals. Once completed, SEPNU will retain a 30 per cent interest in the joint venture assets and remain their operator.
The NNPC’s stake will increase to 70 per cent from 60 per cent, while Seplat will continue to own SEPNU outright.
Seplat Energy Chief Executive Roger Brown described the NNPC-SEPNU joint venture as one of Nigeria’s most strategic oil assets and said the two companies were aligned on its future development.
Seplat decides to split the proceeds equally between debt reduction and shareholder returns. Half will be used to reduce net debt, which stood at $370.7 million at the end of the first half, down 45 per cent from the end of 2025.
The remaining half will be returned to shareholders through a special dividend of 23.3 cents per share. The payment will bring Seplat’s planned distributions for 2026 to 68.3 cents per share, or about $410 million.
The sale will also reduce Seplat’s production outlook.
SEPNU’s contribution to group output will fall to about 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from roughly 80,000.
Seplat has also lowered its 2030 production target to 170,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 200,000.
The group’s proved and probable reserves will decline by about 13 per cent to 872.9 million barrels of oil equivalent.
The transaction is one of Brown’s final major decisions as Seplat’s chief executive. He will step down on August 1 and be succeeded by Effiong Okon, according to the company’s half-year results.