The federal government is encouraging Royal Dutch Shell Plc to keep its onshore oil and gas business in the country instead of divesting it, as the company seeks to focus more on cleaner energy and offshore production. Minister of state for petroleum resources, Timipre Sylva, in a report by Bloomberg yesterday, told reporters in Abuja that even as the government is in discussions with Shell about its future in the country, “some actually feel also that Shell should not hurriedly divest and to at least stay” onshore. “To have a situation where Shell has completely divested from a sector is not good for us,” the minister said. The Anglo-Dutch energy giant has been gradually selling its onshore assets for more than a decade in Nigeria as it seeks to put aside problems related to raptured pipelines and legal battles with local communities. Shell chief executive officer (CEO) Ben van […]