Omotowa defends concession as catalyst for $20bn investment
Emmanuel: It’s bonanza for operators
Emmanuel Addeh in AbujaA former Managing Director of Nigeria LNG (NLNG), Babs Omotowa and Energy Analyst, Kelvin Emmanuel have disagreed sharply over the federal government’s decision to grant Shell Plc an enhanced $11.50 per barrel production-linked tax incentive for the Bonga South West Aparo deepwater project.
Omotowa, a non-executive director at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), former independent non-director at Seplat and ex-Shell executive defended the fiscal concession as a necessary catalyst for a $20 billion investment.But Emmanuel described it as an overly generous package that favours operators at the expense of government revenues.The exchange, which unfolded on social media, specifically on LinkedIn, attracted widespread attention within Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, highlighting the growing divide over the use of fiscal incentives to revive investment in the country’s upstream sector.
The controversy followed President Bola Tinubu’s approval of an investment-linked fiscal package for the long-delayed Bonga South West Aparo development, including a production tax credit of $11.50 per barrel, which experts say is more than double the standard incentive provided under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
