By Radarr Africa Business Desk
LAGOS, October 27 (Radarr Africa) – Italian energy group Eni has completed the sale of its Nigerian subsidiary, Agip Energy and Natural Resources (AENR), to Nigerian firm APEX, Reuters reported on Monday.
Reuters said Eni announced the completion on October 26. The agency reported that APEX is wholly owned by Sterling, which it described as a leading Nigerian onshore oil operator. The price and other financial terms were not disclosed.
AENR is involved in onshore and shallow-water oil and gas exploration and production in Nigeria. According to Reuters, it holds a 5 per cent interest in the Renaissance joint venture, where TotalEnergies and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) are also partners. Reuters said the sale forms part of Eni’s plan to exit oil and gas assets it no longer considers strategic.
The deal had been signalled earlier in the year. In a Reuters report dated May 4, Eni said the sale of its 5 per cent stake in the Renaissance joint venture was “in the process” of completion, and described the buyer’s identity and the deal value as confidential. Reuters said at the time that Eni had disclosed the sale in written answers to shareholder questions ahead of its annual shareholder meeting on May 6. The report said Nigerian and foreign-owned energy companies had submitted bids, and that the buyer had to complete due diligence, including an assessment of reputational risks. Reuters noted that Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company had been reported earlier in 2026 as the frontrunner, but said that was not confirmed.
The Renaissance joint venture is the former Shell Petroleum Development Company joint venture, Reuters reported.
The sale is the latest in a series of exits by international oil companies from Nigerian onshore and shallow-water assets. In August 2024, Eni announced the closing of the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary, Nigerian Agip Oil Company Ltd (NAOC), to Oando PLC, a company listed on the Nigerian Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Eni said at the time that the transaction had received approval from all relevant authorities and was aimed at “divesting non-strategic assets”. It said its 5 per cent interest in the Shell Petroleum Development Company joint venture was not part of that transaction and would be retained, and that it would stay in Nigeria through deepwater projects and Nigeria LNG.
This month, Shell also moved to reduce its Nigerian footprint. Nairametrics reported on October 14 that Shell had signed an agreement to sell its entire interest in the Shell Nigeria Gas Group, which supplies natural gas to industrial and commercial customers, to Nigerian energy company Vaaris Energy. The deal is subject to regulatory conditions and approvals, and the financial terms were not disclosed. Shell Nigeria Gas was established in 1998 and operates about 170 kilometres of pipeline across Ogun, Abia and Rivers states, according to the report.
Shell Nigeria Country Chair Elohor Aiboni said the agreement provides “a much stronger platform for the business’ next chapter under new ownership,” Nairametrics reported. She said Shell Nigeria Gas would continue to serve customers as usual until the transaction closes, and that Shell remains focused on its deepwater and integrated gas positions in Nigeria.
Nairametrics said the Shell sale is part of Chief Executive Wael Sawan’s strategy of simplifying the company’s portfolio and focusing on investments with stronger returns. It described Vaaris Energy as a privately held Nigerian company formed by a consortium of oil and gas players and led by former Seplat Energy chief executive Austin Avuru and Tein George, chairman of Seametric Engineering Limited.
Reuters did not say whether the AENR transaction needed further regulatory approvals or whether the Renaissance joint venture partners had signed off on the change of ownership.
