President Bola Tinubu. Photo: State House
President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday approved a new framework governing foreign investment in Nigeria’s deep offshore oil and gas fields, replacing the previous system under which companies negotiated separate agreements with the Federal Government.
The new framework is expected to attract up to $50bn in fresh investment and revive major offshore projects that have been stalled for years, beginning with Shell’s roughly $10bn Bonga South West project.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this in a statement he signed on Tuesday, titled, ‘President Tinubu Approves Landmark Deep Offshore Investment Framework to Unlock up to US$50 Billion in New Investment.’
Onanuga said the reform provides qualifying companies with a common set of eligibility criteria and rules, instead of requiring each investor to negotiate separate terms with the government, a process that had made deep offshore investment slow, unpredictable and, in many cases, stalled for decades.
