When TotalEnergies announced on January 14 that it had signed a sale agreement with Vaaris Resources for its 10 percent stake in Nigeria’s Renaissance Joint Venture, the deal marked more than just another asset transfer in West Africa’s largest oil producer.

It represented the emergence of a consortium assembled in secrecy, backed by some of Nigeria’s most influential energy and finance figures, and structured in a way that could reshape how international majors exit the country’s ageing onshore fields.

The transaction, covering 15 oil-producing licenses that delivered roughly 16,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to Total’s net production in 2025, plus stakes in three gas licenses feeding half of Nigeria LNG’s supply, comes after the collapse of a $860 million agreement with Mauritius-based Chappal Energies.

That failure, attributed to financing shortfalls and unmet regulatory obligations, left TotalEnergies searching for a buyer capable of navigating both Nigeria’s complex regulatory environment and the capital-intensive demands of mature oil infrastructure.

Enter Vaaris Resources, a company incorporated just this past December, yet already positioning itself as the solution to both problems.

At the centre of Vaaris sits Austin Avuru, the former chief executive of Seplat Energy, who transformed that company from a startup into Nigeria’s largest independent oil producer before stepping down in 2020.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Avuru confirmed he “assembled a group of investors” to pursue the Renaissance assets, leveraging relationships built over three decades in Nigeria’s upstream sector. He didn’t provide further information.

Avuru’s track record lends immediate credibility. Under his leadership, Seplat acquired assets from Shell, Chevron, and ExxonMobil, proving that Nigerian independents could operate complex infrastructure abandoned by the majors. His involvement signals that Vaaris intends to follow a similar playbook: acquire underinvested assets, optimise production through local expertise, and extract value where international companies see only liability.

Yet Avuru rarely operates alone, and industry sources suggest Vaaris represents something more ambitious than a typical acquisition vehicle.

Industry chatter also points to Tein George, the Chairman of Deep Wells Energy Services. He obtained his B.Sc (Hons) Finance from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and MBA from the University of Lagos, Akoka in 1984.

George started his career as a banker with FCMB and later Nigeria International Bank Ltd (now CITI bank) where he worked in the Treasury and Corporate banking divisions of the bank till 1991.

George has been active in business with an interest in Oil & Gas and Real Estate. He has been the Managing Director of Sealand Oilfield Services Ltd, which provides services in the construction area of the Oil & Gas industry. He also provides high-level strategic and commercial advisory services to major energy companies in Nigeria.

George currently runs Seametric Engineering Ltd, which provides design engineering services to the Oil & Gas industry. He has an extensive global contact in the construction/ Oil & Gas industry. He is currently the Chairman of Aveon Offshore Ltd, the largest locally owned Oil & Gas fabrication yard in Nigeria.

Vaaris now faces the same regulatory approval process that stalled the Chappal deal. NUPRC must assess financial capability, technical competence, and compliance with local content requirements. The undisclosed purchase price, likely far below Chappal’s $860 million given the intervening market conditions, will undergo scrutiny to ensure Nigeria receives fair value.

Yet if Avuru, Ogunlesi, and Belo-Osagie are indeed behind Vaaris, the consortium brings exactly what regulators demanded: proven operational expertise, access to institutional capital, and deep knowledge of Nigerian business environments.

Whether this translates into long-term success will depend on execution, transforming ageing infrastructure into sustainable production while managing the environmental and social liabilities that drove TotalEnergies to exit in the first place. (BusinessDay)

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