A local oil and gas consortium, Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, said it has received ministerial consent to acquire Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

The company announced the development in a statement yesterday.

In January, Shell said it agreed to sell its Nigerian onshore oil assets to Renaissance Africa for over $1.3 billion — subject to regulatory approvals.

Renaissance is a consortium formed by ND Western, Aradel Energy, First Exploration & Production (E&P), Waltersmith, and Petrolin.

However, on October 21, when the Federal Government announced the approval of other divestment deals, the ShellRenaissance transaction did not scale the regulatory test.

Providing updates in the statement, Renaissance said the deal has now been consented to by President Bola Tinubu, who doubles as the minister of petroleum resources.

“Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited is pleased to announce that the Minister of Petroleum Resources has granted his consent to the sale of The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to Renaissance,” the statement reads.