ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Global energy giant Shell Plc has indicated plans to invest up to $20 billion more in Nigeria over the next couple of years, signalling renewed confidence in the country’s oil and gas sector following recent policy reforms.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, disclosed this on Thursday after a meeting between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Shell’s global leadership led by its Chief Executive Officer, Wael Sawan, at the State House, Abuja.

Ojulari said the visit marked the first time the global chairman of the Shell Group was meeting President Tinubu, explaining that the purpose was to formally appreciate the President for the executive orders issued early last year to improve Nigeria’s investment climate.

He noted that although the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) laid an important foundation for sector reforms, additional incentives were required to keep Nigeria competitive in the race for global capital.

“The competition for investment is global,” Ojulari said, pointing out that other African countries, Guyana and parts of the Far East were continually adjusting policies to attract investors.

“One of the great things that Mr. President did was to announce those executive orders to put additional incentives in place to attract investments”, he said.

According to him, the policy shift enabled Shell to complete three major milestones in the last 18 months, beginning with the divestment of its onshore joint venture assets to Renaissance.

He said the successful conclusion of that transaction demonstrated the administration’s commitment to allowing investors both to enter and exit the market when necessary.

“That brought confidence to the international community, including Shell,” Ojulari said.

He added that following the divestment, Shell took a final investment decision (FID) of $5 billion on the Bonga North deepwater project, and later approved another $2 billion investment for a shallow-water gas development project.

“Overall, since Mr. President announced those incentives, just one company—Shell alone—has already invested over $7 billion,” he said, describing this as evidence of growing investor confidence in Nigeria’s economy.

Ojulari disclosed that during the meeting, Shell formally committed to pursuing additional investment opportunities worth about $20 billion in the coming years, citing confidence in President Tinubu’s leadership, transparency and demonstrated commitment to reform.

He said discussions also focused on Shell’s next major project, the Bonga Southwest development, on which the company is working toward a final investment decision.

The project, he noted, would require capital expenditure of close to $10 billion, in addition to substantial operating costs.

Explaining the broader impact, Ojulari said such projects translate into large-scale job creation, revival of dormant fabrication yards, and long-term employment opportunities over the 20 to 30-year lifespan of oil and gas projects.

“For many years, fabrication yards have been idle because there were no projects. Those yards will come back to life,” he said, adding that Nigerians would benefit from construction, maintenance, manpower and supply contracts over decades.

Ojulari said NNPCL, as concession holder under Nigeria’s production sharing contracts with international oil companies such as Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Total, would continue to work with investors and relevant government agencies to develop credible proposals for approval.

“Our responsibility is to be the conscience of the government and the conscience of Nigerians, ensuring that the assumptions and promises being made are correct and authentic,” he said, expressing optimism that with continued presidential support, final investment decisions would be reached in due course.