Shell’s $5 billion Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Bonga North Deep Offshore field demonstrates how international oil companies (IOCs) still see Nigeria as an attractive destination for investments, a group, The Democratic Front (TDF), has said.
In a statement by its Chairman, Mallam Danjuma Muhammad, and Secretary, Chief Wale Adedayo, seen yesterday by New Telegraph, it also opined that the investment decision gave credence to the investment-friendly approach of the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
It added that Shell’s $5 billion FID indicated that Nigeria remains oil, gas investment destination. Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) had approved the Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Bonga North deep-water project, signaling its commitment to the $5 billion initiative.
The project is to produce approximately 350 million barrels of crude oil, which will add a significant increase to Nigeria’s oil output and revenue.
According to reports, Shell holds a 55 per cent ownership stake in the Bonga FPSO facility. TDF stated that Shell’s decision and other strategic investments, such as TotalEnergies’ $500 million in the Ubeta gas field, are driven by Tinubu’s fiscal incentives.
It added that they exemplify the success of the current administration’s reforms in attracting foreign direct investment to Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
The group stated that it is confident that more IOCs will key into the fiscal incentives introduced by the current administration to make fresh investments in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
It said: “We have a conviction that the pertinence of the fresh investment in the sector and indeed the larger Nigeria economy is not only limited to the $5 billion value of the investment but also extends to the field’s potential volume of 350 million barrels of crude oil.
It is a development that is bound to further raise the nation’s oil output and revenue as well as bolster its position as Africa’s largest oil producer.
“The Ubeta upstream field is estimated to produce 350 million standard cubic feet of gas per day when operational and will go a long way to raise the country’s profile as a major gas producer. This remarkable economic feat was unarguably achieved under the economic reform of President Bola Tinubu.
“It is instructive that since its discovery in 1996, the Bonga deepwater field, located in OML 118, at a water depth exceeding 1000 meters, has not witnessed such a humongous investment as the $5 billion coming from Shell and this is an attestation of President Tinubu’s pro-business approach to governance.
