Exxon Mobil plans $10bln investment in Nigeria

Hydrocarbons giant Exxon Mobil plans to invest 10 billion dollars in Nigeria’s offshore oil, a spokesman for Nigeria’s presidency said.

The investment was discussed by Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima and the CEO of Exxon’s Nigeria operations Shane Harris on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, presidential spokesperson Stanley Nkwocha said in a statement.

Exxon Mobil also plans to spend $2.5 billion annually to boost oil output by 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) over the next few years and maintain its Nigerian operations, despite agreeing to sell its onshore assets to Seplat Energy for $1.3 billion, Reuters reported.

Oil represents the bulk of Nigeria’s revenue at 1.41 million barrels per a day, compared with 1.2 million a year earlier.

But the country faces challenges to develop its untapped oil potential due to deteriorating security conditions and oil theft.

Theft cost the country 620 million barrels of crude, worth some $46 billion, between 2009 and 2020, DW said in a recent report, citing the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, an organization that promotes accountability in the management of the nation’s oil, gas, and mining revenue.