Nigeria's Oando sets end-April deadline for ConocoPhillips asset acquisition

Oando CEO, Tinubu

Nigerian energy company Oando has said it now expects to complete its acquisition of ConocoPhillips' assets in Nigeria by the end of April, pushing back by one month the target deadline to wrap up negotiations that began more than a year ago.
Oando said in a statement that the earlier deadline of the end of March was no longer realistic because the oil minister had still not approved the acquisition.
The date for completion of the ConocoPhillips acquisition is now April 30, from the earlier date of March 31, it said in the statement.
Oando said the two companies expect to meet all the conditions involved in the negotiations, including the minister's approval, before the new deadline.
"In consideration of this extension, [Oando] has consented to increasing its deposit by $25 million on April 17, 2014, if the consent of [Nigerian oil minister] is not received on or before April 11, 2014," the company added.
It was the second such postponement after Oando said in February it had secured the $1.66 billion necessary to wrap up the takeover of ConocoPhillips' Nigerian assets, which include Niger Delta onshore oil blocks -- OMLs 60, 61, 62, and 63 -- as well as two deepwater assets, OML 131 and OPL 214.
Company officials last week expressed fears that the deal might have run into stormy waters on the grounds that the Nigerian government, through the Ministry of Petroleum, was not party to the negotiations.