Nigeria secures $13bn oil and gas investment
Nigeria has successfully attracted a total of $13 billion in investment commitments in its oil and gas sector from major international energy companies, according to Olu Verheijen, the special adviser on energy to the country’s President Bola Tinubu.
Verheijen said that she has partnered with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and they have recently met in Lagos and Abuja with representatives of 15 prominent oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, TotalEnergies, Shell, NAOC, among others, to secure their commitment to invest in Nigerian oil and gas.
“We are faced with a revenue crisis which is impacting all Nigerians. To urgently address this, President Bola Tinubu is actively seeking ways to grow revenue and forex to stabilize our economy and currency, and the oil and gas sector remains critical to our ability to do so despite current production levels falling significantly short of our potential,” Verheijen said.
One of the key objectives of the discussions with the 15 major oil and gas companies reportedly was to advance a Presidential Initiative focused on tackling the nation’s revenue crisis while also playing a role in stabilizing Nigeria’s economy. According to the Office of the Special Adviser on Energy, these discussions unveiled substantial investment prospects, with a projected total of $55.2 billion in investments anticipated by 2030, of which $13.5 billion is expected to be invested by these companies within twelve months from now.
Nigeria’s oil production is currently around 1 million bpd below its capacity, with a lack of investments, a shortage of funding sources because of the energy transition, and insecurity cited by the government as key factors driving the situation. The consultations also highlighted the key enablers required that will ensure the delivery of 2.1 million barrels by December 2024, positioning Nigeria well ahead of President Tinubu’s campaign promise of 2.6 million barrels by 2027.
