By Isaac Anyaogu
LAGOS (Reuters) -ExxonMobil is not renewing a 33-year-old lease on its expansive offices in Lagos’s upscale Lekki district which expires on Friday, three sources inside the company told Reuters, as it looks to scale down operations in Nigeria.
Exxon, Shell, TotalEnergies and Eni have all sought to leave Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger delta in recent years, citing security concerns, but such moves have been stalled by regulatory hurdles.
ExxonMobil’s plan to sell its land and shallow-water assets to local oil firm Seplat Energy, agreed in 2022, is nearing close as the local oil sector regulator told Reuters that an agreement signed on Wednesday between Nigerian state oil firm NNPC and Exxon’s local unit is a “precursor to regulatory approval”.
Exxon said it was maintaining a strong presence in Nigeria. “Our move to a new modern, purpose-built office reflects our commitment to Nigeria,” said Oge Udeagha, a spokesperson for ExxonMobil’s Nigerian unit. “We remain dedicated to our workforce and our staffing remains unchanged.”
Yet Exxon’s relocation to smaller offices and an absence of any new investments highlight how serious it is about scaling down its Nigerian operations, even as the country’s government turns on the charm for multinational oil firms.
Exxon is relocating staff from the 12-floor Mobil House, reportedly leased at the cost of $10 million annually, to a six-floor office building 22 kilometers away in the upmarket Ikoyi area, built to accommodate half the personnel working at the former offices.
“The new office leaves no one in doubt about its future plans for Nigeria,” a staff member of the company told Reuters.
Having agreed on the disposal to Seplat Energy, ExxonMobil has said it will focus on its deepwater assets in Nigeria, through its local units Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater).
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who took office last year, has made attracting investment a key priority and has directed that divestment deals be resolved as quickly as possible.
(Reporting by Isaac Anyaogu; Editing by David Holmes)
