ExxonMobil Streamlines Nigerian Operations, Moves to New Office

ExxonMobil will relocate to a smaller office and reduce its operations in Nigeria.

ExxonMobil moved to a smaller office building in Lagos State as part of its efforts to scale back activities in Nigeria.

The oil giant's 33-year lease on the large office building in Lagos's posh Lekki neighborhood is set to end on Friday, May 31st, and it will not be renewed.

Sources with knowledge of the matter claim that ExxonMobil is implementing a larger plan to reduce its operations in Nigeria with this action.

Employees of Exxon will be moving from the $10 million-per-year, 12-story Mobil House to a six-story office building in Ikoyi, Lagos, which is 22 kilometers distant. The staffing level at this new location is intended to be only half that of the prior one.

It's unclear how many workers are directly impacted by these office closures, but it's expected that Exxon will lose some jobs and become less of a presence in Nigeria.

Similar cuts are reportedly planned for the company's other operating locations in Nigeria.

The agreement struck in 2022 by ExxonMobil to sell its onshore and shallow-water assets to the local oil company Seplat Energy is almost complete.

Despite the Nigerian government's efforts to draw in multinational oil corporations, the company's decision to reduce its operations in Nigeria is demonstrated by its relocation to smaller offices and absence of new investments.

“The new office leaves no one in doubt about its future plans for Nigeria,” a company staff member said.

ExxonMobil keeps relocation plans under wraps.

This ExxonMobil decision comes eight months after President Bola Tinubu hosted a delegation of the company's global executives in New York, United States, in September 2023.

Tinubu stated unequivocally that Nigeria will no longer accept scraps and leftovers on the investment agendas of the biggest oil companies in the world.

“Nigeria has never been more ready for business than it is now,” the President said.

He asserted to have demonstrated his ability to make tough decisions as President and to be best equipped to solve issues and remove any obstacles preventing new, substantial capital from flowing into Nigeria's oil and gas sector after an illustrious career in the private sector as a professional accountant in the oil and gas industry.

“The knotty issues require direct supervision on my part. Despite many contending obligations, I will sit down and oversee the process of removing these encumbrances to job and wealth creation for the Nigerian people. We know the industry. We grew up in it. We are positioned to solve the problems, and we are pragmatic, and we will solve the problem,” the President firmly assured.

Liam Mallon, the President of Global Upstream Operations at ExxonMobil, reassured President Tinubu that the company is aware of the fresh commitment the President is making on behalf of Nigeria and that it is in a position to support the President's efforts with additional investment. In phase one of the company's new investment push in Nigeria, Mallon committed to increasing production in its Nigerian operations by almost 40,000 barrels per day.