Italian oil giant Eni, on Wednesday, announced that it had obtained approval from the Nigerian government to proceed with the proposed sale of Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) to Oando, run by Wale Tinubu, President Bola Tinubu’s nephew.

“Eni has received formal consent from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) for the sale of NAOC Ltd to Oando Plc,” the oil company said in a statement.

The Italian oil company said the sale would enable Agip focus on its onshore oil operations. The announcement followed an exclusive report by Peoples Gazette, which stated that one of the conditions for the president to restore Eni and Shell oil prospective licence OPL 245 last year was the transfer of Eni’s onshore assets to Oando.

“Having already obtained all other relevant local and regulatory authorities’ authorisations, this achievement will allow Eni to proceed to the completion of the transaction for the sale of Nigerian Agip Oil Company Ltd (NAOC Ltd), Eni’s wholly owned subsidiary focusing on onshore oil & gas exploration and production as well as power generation in Nigeria, to Oando PLC, Nigeria’s leading national energy solutions provider,” the statement added.  

Eni, however, excluded a five per cent stake in the Shell Production Development Company Joint Venture (SPDJV), stating that it was not covered in the business transaction.

“NAOC Ltd participating interest in SPDC JV (Shell Production Development Company Joint Venture – operator Shell 30%, TotalEnergies 10%, NAOC 5%, NNPC 55%) is not included in the perimeter of the transaction and will be retained in Eni’s portfolio,” the statement.

Although Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited officials had initially kicked against the sale, stating that Eni lacked authorisation to do so, they eventually backed down upon learning that the president himself had a stake in it, sources told The Gazette.