Nigeria to sell down joint venture stakes

Fresh from his re-election victory in February, President Muhammadu Buhari is using the weeks ahead of the official start of his second term in office to signal planned reforms in the oil and gas sector. Topping the agenda is a potential sale by state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) of up to 20% of its equity holding in the country’s main upstream joint ventures, in which the state holds a commanding, if financially unsustainable, 55-60% stake. The funds from any sale have been earmarked to help plug possible shortfalls in the national budget.