(Ecofin Agency) - Indigenous energy group, Forte Oil Plc., on Friday announced that it is currently in talks to seal a major refinery deal to boost its capacity.

According to the firm’s CEO, Akin Akinfemiwa (CEO), the agreement aims at exploring partnerships and joint ventures for local refining of petroleum products.

“We are aggressively pursuing M&A opportunities along the energy value chain,” he noted not giving further details.

Akinfemiwa added that Forte Oil which has interests in fuel distribution and power, would diversify into the upstream sector through the acquisition of marginal oilfields.

Forte Oil, which is largely owned by Femi Otedola, saw its shares rise by 4.99% on Friday to reach N60.37, giving it a market value of about $216 million.

It should be recalled that the company’s shares suffered a great drop in 2015 and 2016 financial year, falling to 74% and 32%, respectively. Following this, Forte oil earlier this year raised capital in tranches via right issue to boost its operations in the country.

“We have diversified our operations. We have 51 per cent stake in a 414 MW gas-fired independent power plant located in central Nigeria, selling power to the Nigerian power grid on a guaranteed basis. We have five pillars strategies going forward. We want to concentrate on high margin products. We want to focus on lubricants. We have been working on our LPG as we improve our facility in Abuja, Kano and Apapa. We want to strengthen our balance sheet. We want to buy upstream assets; we will focus on mergers and acquisition within the space available,” the company said.

Anita Fatunji