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Africa’s oil and gasoline trade is coming into a brand new section of consolidation and exploration as mergers, acquisitions, and contemporary licensing rounds reshape the continent’s upstream panorama heading into 2026.
offshore Nigeria. Picture: African Power Chamber
In line with the African Power Chamber’s State of African Power 2026 Outlook, M&A exercise throughout the continent is accelerating amid strategic portfolio realignments by worldwide oil corporations (IOCs), international independents, and rising African operators. The mix of divestments from legacy property and new investor-friendly licensing phrases is driving renewed curiosity throughout each mature and frontier basins.
Globally, upstream M&A totaled about $51 billion within the first half of 2025, down from the earlier six months, as market volatility and commerce uncertainty prompted corporations to prioritize steadiness sheet energy and capital self-discipline. Whereas deal-making slowed in North America, transactions in Africa are rising as operators reposition portfolios and capitalize on divestments by main producers.
In Nigeria, indigenous operators proceed to increase their footprint by means of asset acquisitions from international majors. Notable transactions embrace ExxonMobil’s sale of a 30% operated curiosity in Mobil Producing Nigeria Limitless to Seplat Power, Eni’s switch of its onshore subsidiary to Oando, and TotalEnergies’ and Equinor’s asset divestments to Chappal Energies Offshore. In March 2025, Shell accomplished the sale of its onshore subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Growth Firm of Nigeria Ltd., to Renaissance, a consortium of 5 principally native E&Ps.
These transactions underscore a broader pattern of native operators assuming management of onshore property, whereas IOCs preserve their give attention to offshore and deepwater developments. Shell’s latest remaining funding choice (FID) on the Bonga North deepwater challenge displays renewed confidence in Nigeria’s upstream outlook beneath the framework of the Petroleum Business Act, which has streamlined divestment approvals and clarified fiscal phrases.
Elsewhere in Africa, worldwide buying and selling and vitality corporations are reshaping portfolios. Vitol’s $1.65 billion acquisition of Eni property in Ivory Coast and the Republic of Congo expanded its footprint and secured LNG buying and selling synergies, whereas Shell’s $510 million buy of TotalEnergies’ 12.5% stake in Nigeria’s Bonga area displays a method centered on high-return initiatives.
In the meantime, licensing rounds throughout the continent are fueling contemporary exploration alternatives. Algeria’s first bid spherical in a decade awarded 5 of six accessible blocks, providing improved fiscal and royalty phrases. Libya additionally reopened its upstream sector with its first licensing spherical in 17 years, providing 22 blocks beneath revised production-sharing circumstances. Different nations — together with Angola, Sierra Leone, Congo, and Tanzania — are anticipated to advance delayed bid rounds in 2026.
In line with NJ Ayuk, Govt Chairman of the African Power Chamber, consolidation amongst mid-sized and unbiased African corporations is predicted to speed up subsequent 12 months. “The African oil and gasoline sector is about for important consolidation in 2026, significantly amongst midsize and African unbiased corporations,” Ayuk stated, including that stock-for-stock transactions have gotten extra frequent as corporations pursue scale and effectivity.
As international operators streamline portfolios and native independents increase their attain, 2026 is shaping as much as be a defining 12 months for Africa’s upstream trade — one characterised by consolidation, exploration, and renewed investor confidence within the continent’s useful resource potential.
Picture and report courtesy of African Power Chamber
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