The recent announcement by the Chairman of Forte Oil Plc, Mr Femi Otedola, of his decision to sell all his shares in the firm’s downstream business is the latest in a series of divestments from the downstream oil sector in recent years.
The firm said Otedola would “divest of his full 75 per cent direct and indirect shareholding in the company’s downstream business.”
In October 2016, United States-based ExxonMobil divested its 60 per cent stake in Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc to Nipco Plc, leaving the French energy major Total as the only international oil company operating in the nation’s downstream sector.
Oando Plc, an indigenous energy group, announced in July 2016 that it had completed the partial divestment of its interest in its downstream business to Helios Investment Partners and the Vitol Group. It sold 60 per cent stake in Oando Marketing Limited, a petroleum product retailing and distribution firm, which was renamed OVH Energy after the acquisition. Read more