The federal government has secured investment opportunities, with an estimated $55.2 billion in investments planned by 2030 to enhance Nigerian oil and gas investments.
The agreement was reached following a meeting with Olu Verheijen, Special Adviser to the President on Energy, and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), which concluded a series of strategic engagements with fifteen (15) top international and independent oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria.
According to a statement posted on the Nigerian government’s website on Friday, the meetings which were held in Lagos and Abuja said of the aforementioned sum in investment, $13.5 billion is expected to be invested by these companies within twelve (12) months from now.
It explained that the companies were carefully chosen after a detailed review process by NUPRC and the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Energy and included Chevron, Total, Shell, NAOC, Exxon Mobil, Seplat, Heirs Holdings, Waltersmith, First E&P, among others.
Ms Verheijen explained that one of the main goals of the meetings was to develop a Presidential Initiative intended to alleviate the country’s revenue crisis while helping to stabilise Nigeria’s economy.
She said
“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.”
She added, “These strategic, high-level engagements with oil and gas producers will help fast-track bold reforms that will unlock investments required to restore and grow Oil and Gas Production in the short, medium, and long term. President Bola Tinubu is dedicated to enhancing the investment environment in Nigeria, positioning us as the preferred destination in Africa for the energy sector.”