Nigeria "Major Oil Companies Pledge $13 Billion Investment in Nigeria's Oil and Gas Sector"

Nigeria has successfully garnered $13 billion in investment commitments within its oil and gas sector, with major international energy giants such as ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies pledging their support, revealed Olu Verheijen, Special Adviser on Energy to Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu.

Verheijen, alongside the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), recently held discussions with representatives from 15 oil and gas firms operating in Nigeria. They secured these companies' commitments to invest in the Nigerian oil and gas sector, as stated in a press release sent to Nigeria's Nairametrics outlet.

In addressing Nigeria's revenue crisis, Tinubu's administration is actively exploring avenues to boost revenue and foreign exchange reserves for economic and currency stabilization. The oil and gas sector plays a pivotal role in this effort, despite current production levels falling well short of Nigeria's potential, emphasized Verheijen.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Exxon intended to increase its crude oil production in Nigeria by an additional 40,000 barrels per day (bpd). Currently, Nigeria's oil production operates at around 1 million bpd below its capacity, with factors such as insufficient investments, limited funding sources amid the energy transition, and insecurity contributing to this situation.

To achieve its objective of increasing oil production to up to 1.7 million bpd by November 2023, Nigeria aims to secure a higher quota within the OPEC+ agreement. Nigeria's quota was initially set at 1.742 million bpd earlier this year but was reduced to 1.38 million bpd due to significant underproduction. Nigeria's consistent failure to meet its production targets within the OPEC+ alliance has been primarily attributed to pipeline vandalism, oil theft, inadequate investment, and capacity constraints.