Forte Oil Plc, one of Nigeria’s integrated energy solution providers, has confirmed the acquisition of 17 % of its equity by Mercuria Energy Holdings SA for $200 million. Thisday reports.

With the foreign direct investment in Forte Oil, the world’s third largest independent energy trader and asset operator has made inroads into the West African energy sector.

Forte Oil in a statement stated that through this investment, it had secured additional working capital to further its meteoric growth and dominance in the downstream sector, upstream services, power generation and upstream exploration in its bid to becoming Nigeria’s premier integrated energy solution provider.

“Mercuria is joining forces with Forte Oil at an auspicious time when equitable funding and expertise is needed to expand and intensify its market penetration to give the company the leverage to further create a positive impact for all shareholders. This is another step towards projecting Forte Oil Plc as the investment of choice as reflected in our mission statement,” Forte Oil said adding that the investment has been approved by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and it is focused towards improving the group’s working capital and would be used for the expansion of the downstream and power generation businesses in Nigeria as well as positioning itself for future opportunities in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.