Seplat Strikes $282m Deal to Sell 10% Stake in NNPC Joint Venture
NNPC’s interest will rise to 70%, while Seplat plans a special $140 million dividend and further debt reduction.
Seplat Energy Plc has agreed to sell a 10% working interest in its joint-venture assets with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited for approximately $281.6 million, in a transaction that will increase the state oil company’s stake to 70%.
Seplat said on Thursday that its subsidiaries, Seplat Energy Offshore Limited and Seplat Energy Producing Nigeria Unlimited, have signed a legally binding heads of agreement with NNPC Limited for the transaction.
The deal remains subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, with completion expected in the second half of 2026. It has an effective date of April 1, 2026.
Following completion, Seplat Energy Producing Nigeria Unlimited, or SEPNU, will retain a 30% working interest in the joint-venture assets and continue as operator. NNPC’s interest will rise from 60% to 70%, while Seplat will retain full ownership of SEPNU.
Seplat plans to split the proceeds broadly between debt reduction and shareholder returns, reflecting what it described as its strong financial position.
Subject to completion, the company intends to pay shareholders a special cash dividend of approximately $140 million, equivalent to 23.3 US cents per share. The payment will be made in addition to dividends arising from the underlying performance of the business.
Seplat is also targeting repayment of up to $300 million in gross debt. It said $200 million under its Advanced Payment Facility was repaid in the second quarter of 2026, with the remaining $100 million expected to be paid after the transaction closes.
The sale will not change production targets for the NNPC-SEPNU joint venture, but it will reduce the volume attributable to Seplat because of its lower working interest.
SEPNU accounts for about 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day at the midpoint of Seplat’s 2026 group production guidance of between 135,000 and 155,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. After applying the transaction’s April 1 effective date, that contribution would fall to approximately 65,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Seplat said it would update its 2026 production guidance when the deal is completed.
The transaction will also affect the company’s longer-term targets. Seplat’s net working-interest production target for 2030 is expected to decline from 200,000 to 170,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Group proven and probable, or 2P, reserves are also expected to fall by about 13% to 872.9 million barrels of oil equivalent. A formal reserves update will follow completion.
Despite the reductions, Seplat said proceeds from the sale and lower capital expenditure associated with the divested interest should largely offset the impact of reduced cash flow from the assets through 2030.
The company maintained its commitment to distribute between 40% and 50% of free cash flow during the 2026–2030 cycle and said it remained on track to return at least $1 billion cumulatively to shareholders.
Seplat Chief Executive Officer Roger Brown described the joint venture as one of Nigeria’s leading licence areas and an asset of strategic national importance.
“The NNPCL/SEPNU JV is one of the pre-eminent licence areas in Nigeria and of strategic importance to the country,” he said. He added that increased development activity had strengthened the venture’s production performance and created potential for growth into the next decade.
He said Seplat’s financial position would allow it to use the transaction proceeds to increase shareholder distributions, reduce leverage and free up future cash flow.
Seplat is listed on both the Nigerian Exchange and the London Stock Exchange and operates a portfolio of onshore and shallow-water oil and gas assets across the Niger Delta.
