SEPLAT Petroleum Development Company Plc plans to acquire more assets in the exploration and production sector of the Nigerian oil industry while aggressively pushing for organic growth.

Chief Executive Officer, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, Mr. Austin Avuru, said one of the indigenous company's key mandate is to leverage opportunities in the oil and gas industry through acquisition of more oil and gas assets.

Avuru spoke at the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) January 2020's technical and business meeting on mergers, acquisitions and divestments in E and P business held in Lagos.

The expression of interest by Seplat came on the heels of the company's recent announcement of the completion of its Eland Oil and Gas Plc's acquisition deal on December 17, 2019.

Avuru said Seplat had positioned itself as an early mover through the acquisition of a 45 per cent operated interest in OMLs 4, 38 and 41 from Shell, Total and Agip in 2010; thus, becoming the first Nigerian independent to acquire a package of oil and gas blocks directly from the major international oil companies (IOCs) as part of a disposal process.

Following this landmark deal in 2010, Seplat further grew its portfolio through the acquisition of a 40 per cent interest in the OPL 283 marginal field area from Pillar Oil. In 2015 acquired further interests in OML 53 and OML 55 from Chevron Nigeria Limited. Seplat grew production at OMLs 4, 38 and 41 from 14,000 bopd as at acquisition to a peak rate of over 84,000 bopd.

According to him, Seplat has demonstrated its ability to work its assets and produce its reserves despite external negative factors such as downtime and losses.

He noted that Seplat also began to invest in its gas business in 2010 in response to the Nigerian government's initiatives to improve the debilitating impact of poor power generation and supply in the country by opening the domestic supply obligation pricing to market forces.

He assured that the company is strategically positioned to access Nigeria's main gas demand centers with current well stock delivering around 300MMscfd.

'We are delighted to successfully complete the acquisition of Eland, which further enhances Seplat's footprint in Nigeria and provides opportunities for enhanced scale, diversification and growth. We welcome our new colleagues and Nigerian partners as we look forward to working together in this exciting phase of our development,' Avuru said.

The Guest Speaker at the meeting, Mr. Mascot Ogunjemiyo, who highlighted the various merger and acquisition cases in the Nigerian oil and gas industry so far, said mergers, acquisitions and divestments in the industry were capable of promoting efficiency and further drive growth.

© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan