Arthur Eze’s Oranto Petroleum is facing mounting pressure across Africa as it loses exploration rights in multiple countries, raising fresh concerns about the company’s ability to sustain its upstream oil portfolio.
The Nigerian oil tycoon has failed to secure permit renewals in both Uganda and South Sudan, with authorities in both cases citing insufficient exploration activity.
Earlier this month, South Sudan declined to renew Oranto’s Block B3 exploration licence, pointing to years of inactivity, including the absence of seismic surveys, drilling operations, and required financial commitments since 2017, according to the country’s Ministry of Petroleum.
South Sudanese officials confirmed in late April that the Block B3 licence, which Oranto had held for six years, would not be renewed, Billionaires Africa reported.
In Uganda, authorities also refused to extend the Ngassa Deep exploration permit, again citing limited progress on exploration work. The Ugandan government has additionally moved to recover a $2.4 million performance guarantee deposited by Oranto at Guaranty Trust Bank in 2017, which had been intended to secure the company’s exploration commitments.
The setbacks add to a broader pattern of licence disputes and losses across the continent, intensifying scrutiny of Oranto’s execution record in upstream oil and gas development.
In recent years, Senegal revoked Oranto-linked offshore exploration rights after the company reportedly failed to meet bank guarantee requirements and carried out limited activity despite several extensions dating back to 2008.
In Equatorial Guinea, parts of the company’s portfolio became entangled in disputes involving Chevron, while in São Tomé and Príncipe, it reduced exposure through a farm-down arrangement with Petrobras.
Despite the setbacks, Oranto has continued expanding in frontier markets, recently securing offshore exploration rights in Liberia.
Founded in the 1990s, Oranto Petroleum built its strategy around acquiring exploration acreage across Africa at a time when many international oil majors were retreating from frontier basins.
News Credit: Business Insider Africa
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