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TotalEnergies has closed the sale of its 10 percent non-operated stake in the oil licences of Nigeria’s Renaissance joint venture, handing the interest to Nigerian-owned Vaaris for $800 million and ending a process that took more than nine months and one failed buyer.
The French company announced the completion on October 27. The sale was carried out through its local subsidiary, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria, and covers 15 oil-producing licences in the joint venture, which was formerly the Shell Petroleum Development Company venture. TotalEnergies signed the sale agreement with Vaaris on January 14, 2026, and the timing shows how long Nigerian asset transfers can take, since they depend on approvals and closing conditions.
Not every part of the stake is going. TotalEnergies keeps its full economic interest in three gas licences, OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77, which together supply about half of the feed gas for Nigeria LNG at Bonny Island. According to the structure set out in January, the 10 percent participating interest in those three licences is transferred to Vaaris, while TotalEnergies retains the economic benefits, so the company stays exposed to the LNG export business even as it leaves the onshore oil fields. World Oil described the outcome as an exit from the onshore oil assets with continued exposure to LNG feed gas.
The price has a history. Nairametrics reported that the $800 million figure is $60 million below the $860 million TotalEnergies had agreed with Chappal Energies in an earlier attempt, which did not complete. The new deal concludes the divestment with a different buyer, and the reports reviewed do not explain why the first agreement failed or how the lower price came about.
The joint venture itself has been reshaped. Before the sales, it consisted of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited with 55 percent, Renaissance Africa Energy as operator with 30 percent, TotalEnergies with 10 percent and Eni’s Nigerian subsidiary, Agip Energy and Natural Resources, with 5 percent. On October 26, Eni announced it had completed the sale of that subsidiary to Apex Global Energy, a wholly owned unit of Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company. With both deals done, the international minority partners in the former Shell venture have passed their onshore oil positions to Nigerian-owned operators, following Shell’s sale of its operating stake to the Renaissance consortium in 2025.
TotalEnergies is not leaving Nigeria. The company says it has operated in the country for more than 60 years and employs over 1,800 people, and Nigeria produced 209,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day for it in 2024. Its offshore fields remain a core part of its African production, and BusinessDay noted that the sale is the latest in a series of disposals of non-operated onshore positions as the group concentrates on offshore and gas.
What does this mean for Nigeria? Supporters of the divestment programme argue that local owners will invest more in ageing onshore fields and keep more of the economic benefits in the country. Critics point to the challenges small operators face funding large assets and addressing theft and environmental liabilities. Analysts quoted by BusinessDay will be watching whether gas supply to the Bonny Island plant stays reliable as the oil-side operators change their approach, since those three licences matter to LNG exports.
For readers following the sector, the next steps are simple. Watch whether Vaaris, which has also agreed to buy Shell’s gas distribution business, publishes investment plans for its new acreage, whether production from the licences holds, and whether further minority stakes change hands. The transaction is complete, but its effects will show in output and gas supply over the coming quarters.
