Nigeria has approved a major tax incentive for Shell Plc's planned deepwater oil project as President Bola Tinubu's administration intensifies efforts to revive investment in the country's struggling petroleum sector.
According to people familiar with the matter, the federal government has granted Shell a production-linked tax credit for the Bonga Southwest Aparo project, offering a rebate of $11.50 for every barrel of crude produced.
The incentive, approved by President Tinubu, is more than double the standard tax credit available under existing regulations and is expected to be extended to other international oil companies pursuing large-scale investments in Nigeria.
The measure is designed to accelerate a final investment decision on the long-delayed offshore development, one of Nigeria's most significant deepwater projects.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited estimates that Bonga Southwest Aparo will attract about $20 billion in foreign direct investment and produce approximately 150,000 barrels of crude oil per day once operational, Bloomberg reported.
