KEY POINTS
- TotalEnergies and Zebbra Energy say talks have eased tensions over OPL 248
- Chevron is seeking regulatory approval to acquire 40 percent of the offshore licences
- The case highlights persistent legal and regulatory risks in Nigeria’s deepwater sector
TotalEnergies and Zebbra Energy, a small Nigerian company run by businessman Ambrosie Bryant Chukwueloka Orjiako, have come to an agreement about the long-running dispute over offshore oil block OPL 248.
The development could get rid of a big problem with the deepwater asset at a time when oil companies around the world are looking at their investments in Nigeria again. Chevron is trying to get a big share of the licenses that were carved out of the block, and the talks are happening at the same time as this deal waits for regulatory approval.
People who are close to the talks said that the framework agreement would let Zebbra back off from its legal fight while the authorities look into recent changes to the ownership structure of the permits related to OPL 248. TotalEnergies has not said anything publicly about what happened in the talks.
Legal dispute shadows offshore dealmaking
Zebbra had fought the loss of its rights to OPL 248 after Nigeria’s petroleum ministry and the upstream regulator took away the license. After the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled in September that the government’s position was correct earlier in the year, the company filed an appeal.
Later, the block was divided into two petroleum prospecting licenses, PPL 2000 and PPL 2001. In December 2024, the Nigerian government gave TotalEnergies and Sapetro, a company owned by former defense minister Theophilus Danjuma, the permits.
After the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, TotalEnergies, and Sapetro signed a production sharing agreement in September, tensions rose again. At the time, Zebbra’s lawyers said that the deal made the state and its partners stronger while the appeal was still going on.
After a different deal with Chevron, the disagreement became even more important. People who know about the deal say that Chevron’s Star Deep Water Petroleum unit has agreed to buy 40 percent of both PPL 2000 and PPL 2001 from TotalEnergies.
The proposed transfer has been sent to Nigeria’s upstream regulator, and it will only happen if they say it’s okay. People who watch the industry say that the Zebbra case needs to be resolved quickly so that the deal can go through without any more problems.
