LAGOS / MUMBAI, October 28, 2026: Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company Limited, the energy business owned by the Sandesara family, has acquired Italian energy major Eni's Nigerian subsidiary, Agip Energy and Natural Resources (Nigeria) Limited (AENR), marking another change in the ownership of Nigeria's onshore oil assets.
The transaction, completed through Apex Global Energy Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sterling Oil, gives the company AENR's 5% interest in the Renaissance joint venture in the Niger Delta, alongside Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (55%), operator Renaissance (30%) and TotalEnergies (10%). Eni confirmed the completion on October 26; the deal was done at an undisclosed price. A day later, TotalEnergies sold its 10% oil interest in the same venture to Vaaris Energy for about ₹6,700 crore ($800 million). In its statement, Eni described Sterling Oil as "one of Nigeria's leading operators in the onshore sector".
The acquisition comes amid a wider shift in Nigeria's oil industry, where international majors have been reducing their exposure to onshore operations while domestic and regional companies take on a larger role. Shell's former onshore operations have moved to the Renaissance consortium, while other transactions involving Eni and ExxonMobil have also changed the ownership landscape. Eni itself is keeping its deep offshore assets and its stake in Nigeria LNG.
Against this backdrop, Sterling Oil's entry into the Renaissance venture marks an expansion for a company that, by its own account, has spent more than 20 years developing its Nigerian operations. The company says it entered the country in 2005 and has developed and operated the Okwuibome field under Oil Mining Lease 143 in Anambra State. It also says it has shipped more than 13 million barrels of crude oil to Indian public-sector refiners so far this year.
Sterling Oil is family owned by the Sandesara family. It is privately held and debt free, with no public shareholders or institutional investors. Its operating history in Nigeria provides the foundation for its latest acquisition, which adds a non-operated interest to its existing asset base.
Unlike an operating stake, the acquired interest does not give Sterling Oil responsibility for running the Renaissance fields. The company's returns will depend on the performance of the joint venture, the economics of its oil and gas assets and the costs associated with its participation.
The acquisition highlights the changing profile of investors in Nigeria's energy industry, with family owned and independent companies increasingly participating in assets once associated with global oil majors.
