Industry experts have highlighted the need for mergers and acquisition deals to unfold in the oil industry in the coming years to exploit Nigeria’s oil assets, The Punch reports.

A Partner at Hogan Lovells, an international law firm, Sarah Shaw, noted after a briefing in Lagos that the firm saw clients doing big M&A deals when the oil price was over $100 per barrel but the crash in prices in 2014 stalled such deals. She noted that the delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) had also hampered M&A deals in Nigeria. She said the enactment of the PIB might create a more stable regulatory framework that could facilitate M&A deals but also noted that the fact that the elections are coming up next year could make it difficult for people to have the certainty needed to do M&A.

A Partner at Olaniwun Ajayi LP, a Lagos-based law firm, Tominiyi Owolabi, said in 2015 through to 2017, it didn’t make sense to raise capital for acquisition deals, especially in a terrain like Nigeria due to low oil prices among others, adding, “We are working on a few deals now and we think barring the elections and how the elections go, in 2018 to 2019 we will see a lot more activity.” Owolabi also said there should be some regulatory push to encourage M&A activity in the industry as was seen in the banking sector as “The country can be making a lot more money from oil and gas assets that are lying fallow.”

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