Royal Dutch Shell to exit upstream activities in Tunisia

Royal Dutch Shell is set to exit upstream activities in Tunisia in a bid to shift its focus towards developing renewable energy.

The firm has informed Tunisian authorities about its plan to exit the operations in the country next year, Reuters quoted Tunisia Energy Ministry’s senior official Rania Marzouki as saying.

As part of the plan, Shell’s stake in the Miskar concession in southern city of Gabes will be transferred to the government.

A Shell spokesperson was cited by the news agency as saying: “We can confirm that Shell Tunisia Upstream (Shell) will be handing back the Miskar concession to the Government of Tunisia upon licence expiry in June 2022.”

Moreover, Shell reportedly requested the early return of the Asdrubal gas field permit, which is due to expire in 2035.

The operations exit plan, however, would not affect the firm’s ongoing brand licence agreement in Tunisia with Vivo Energy, the distributor and marketer of Shell products.

The spokesperson added: “Shell will continue to assess other opportunities in Tunisia beyond the upstream sector.”

Last month, Reuters cited industry sources as saying that investment bank Rothschild & Co was hired by Shell for potential divestment of Tunisian assets.

Additionally, financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard was reportedly hired by Italy’s Eni to run its assets sale plan.

In recent years, major energy companies have been exiting their operations in Tunisia due to the unstable regulatory and political environment in the country following the 2011 revolution.

Last month, the Malaysian unit of Royal Dutch Shell said it is mulling sale of interests in two production-sharing contracts located offshore Sarawak.