Presidency seeks investors for energy sector
President Bola Tinubu
Abdullateef Fowewe
The Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, has called on investors to capitalise on emerging opportunities in Nigeria’s energy sector, emphasising the recent reforms designed to attract new capital.
Verheijen, who spoke at the ongoing African Energy Week in Cape Town, South Africa, underscored the untapped potential within the industry and discussed the recent reforms implemented by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to attract investment.
This was gathered in a statement by the Director of Information, State House, Abuja, Abiodun Oladunjoye, on Thursday.
She said, “Despite our abundant endowments, we have underperformed against our potential. For example, Brazil holds only 30% of Nigeria’s oil reserves but produces 131% more. This is largely due to under-investment.
“Since 2016, Nigeria has managed to attract only 4 percent of total investments in oil and gas, while less resourced countries in Africa have enjoyed a bigger share. When we analyzed investment data, we also found that, between 2013, when Nigeria’s last deepwater project reached FID, and now, IOCs operating in Nigeria have committed more than $82 billion in deepwater investments in other countries that they have deemed to be more attractive destinations for their capital.
“Our target is to shorten the contracting timelines from an extensive 38 months to just 135 days, while also working to eliminate the 40% cost premium that currently exists within the Nigerian petroleum industry.
This is the first time that Nigeria is outlining a fiscal framework for Deepwater gas since exploration in the basin commenced in 1991.
“Our goal is to eliminate the 40% cost premium within the Nigerian petroleum industry and cut down contracting timelines from 38 months to 135 days.
“We are also facilitating the transfer of onshore and shallow water assets to local companies with the capacity to grow production, while supporting the transition of International Oil Companies, with resilient capital, into deep offshore and integrated gas. We have unlocked over $1 billion in investments across the value chain and by the middle of 2025 we expect to see FID on two more projects, including a multibillion-dollar deepwater exploration project, which will be the first of its kind in Nigeria in over a decade – one of many to come.”
