CAPE TOWN, Oct 11 (Reuters) - The head of Nigeria's oil regulator said he is "very optimistic" that oil major Exxon Mobil's asset sale to Seplat Energy can move forward, he told Reuters on Wednesday.

The regulator last year refused to approve the $1.28 billion sale, which some in the industry say is key to getting much-needed investment into Nigeria's oil and gas sector.

"We are very optimistic that parties to the transaction will go back, look at the position of the regulator and come back by abiding by the provisions of Nigerian laws and the right thing will be done," Gbenga Komolafe, chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission , told Reuters on the sidelines of an African energy conference.

Komolafe said that Exxon "did not route the transaction" in line with the provisions of its joint operating agreement, but said that once Exxon had made proper agreements with its joint-venture partners in the assets, "the regulator will do what it needs to."

(Reporting by Wendell Roelf, writing by Libby George, Editing by Louise Heavens)