The Shell Petroleum Development Co. of Nigeria Ltd. (SPDC), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, has completed the assignment of its interest in oil mining lease (OML) 29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (OML29 and NCTL) and related facilities in the Eastern Niger Delta, a news release said.

The interests in OML29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line were assigned to Aiteo Eastern E&P Co. Ltd. Total cash proceeds for Shell amount to some $1.7 billion, Shell said in the release. The divested infrastructure includes flow stations, associated gas infrastructure plus oil and gas pipelines within the OML.

OML29 covers 983 sq km and includes the Nembe, Santa Barbara and Okoroba fields and related facilities. The Nembe Creek Trunk Line is 100 km long and has a capacity of 600,000 barrels per day. It was commissioned in 2010 and evacuates crude to the Bonny Crude Oil Terminal, which Shell said is not part of the transaction and will remain owned and operated by the SPDC JV.

Shell said this “divestment is part of the strategic review of SPDC’s onshore portfolio and is in line with the Federal Government of Nigeria’s aim of developing Nigerian companies in the country’s upstream oil and gas business.”

Total E&P Nigeria Ltd. and Nigerian Agip Oil Co. Ltd. have also assigned their interests of 10% and 5%, respectively, in the lease, giving Aiteo Eastern E&P Co. Ltd. a 45% interest in OML29 and the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, according to the release.
All approvals have been received from the relevant authorities of Nigeria’s federal government.