ABUJA/LAGOS, May 2 (Reuters) - ExxonMobil's ( XOM ) Nigerian

petroleum assets sale to Nigeria's Seplat could be approved in

less than two weeks, the country's oil regulator told Reuters on

Thursday.

The $1.28 billion sale in Africa's largest oil exporter has

awaited regulator approval since 2022.

Gbenga Komolafe, chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream

Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), told Reuters the

parties involved would be invited to a meeting on Friday.

"Subject to the outcome of the meeting, consent...could be

given in less than two weeks from the date of the meeting," he

said.

NUPRC would give the companies two mutually exclusive

options that, if accepted, would permit approval of the deal, he

said.

He did not spell out what these options were but said

the law requires money to be set aside for decommissioning, host

community development and environmental remediation.

"As a commission, we don't want our nation to carry

unwarranted financial burdens arising from the operations of the

assets over time by the divesting entities."

A spokesperson for Seplat declined to comment. An Exxon

spokesperson did not immediately comment.

Observers say approving the deal would bring much needed

investment into Nigeria's petroleum sector. While it is pending,

there is little incentive to put money into the assets, which

means production will gradually decline.

Former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari initially

consented to the transaction, but

withdrew that consent

days later after the oil regulator refused to sign off on

it.

President Bola Tinubu, who took office last year, has

made attracting investment a key priority.