Sasol Sells Stake in Nigerian GTL Plant to Chevron
South African oil company Sasol has signed a deal to sell its 10% stake in the Escravos gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Nigeria to its US partner Chevron, it announced on July 1.
The deal, which Sasol said would free it from "associated company guarantees and other obligations," will be backdated to September 1 2019. The Escravos GTL plant was brought on stream in 2014 and can convert up to 325mn ft3/d of gas into 34,000 b/d of synthetic diesel, naphtha and liquid petroleum gas (LPG). It receives gas from the offshore OML 90 block, operated by a joint venture between Chevron and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Chevron has a 70% stake in the GTL plant, while NNPC has 20%, but the pair signed an agreement on December that will see NNPC gain majority control as part of a cost dispute resolution. The project cost $10bn to realise, which was four times the original estimate.
Sasol is shedding assets to pay off debt. In its statement, the company said it had also reached a deal to sell a 51% share in an explosives partnership to its venture partner Enaex. It is also in the process of divesting from a pipeline bringing gas from Mozambique to South Africa and a gas-fired power plant in Mozambique.