NNPC Woos Investors For $48bn Oil Sector Capital Projects
The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Maikanti Baru, has called on investors to utilise the over $48bn investment opportunities available in the upcoming capital projects in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
Baru made the call while speaking at a panel session on the topic, ‘Insights on Future Exploration Hotspots: Opportunities for Africa’s Oil and Gas Industry,’ at the 2019 International Petroleum conference in London.
He outlined the numerous potential of Africa’s oil and gas industry and noted that the continent’s energy outlook was positive amid difficult operating and economic headwinds.
The NNPC boss explained that over 41 billion barrels of oil and 319 trillion cubic feet of gas had yet to be discovered in sub-Saharan Africa alone, adding that between 2008 and 2017, exploratory success in the sub-region was at least 45 per cent.
He said there had been a surge in the capital expenditure across Africa’s oil and gas sector, with close to $194bn earmarked to be spent between 2018 and 2025 on 93 upcoming oil and gas fields in Africa.
Baru was quoted in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by the corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, as saying, “Out of this $194bn, Nigeria accounts for $48.04bn (over 24.8 per cent) of the total CAPEX coming into upcoming projects in Africa over 2018 to 2025, with over 20 planned projects.”
He observed that 23.8 per cent of the CAPEX in Africa would be spent in Mozambique, 11.3 per cent in Angola, while about 29.2 per cent would be spent in Tanzania, Senegal, Mauritania, Uganda, Egypt, Algeria and Kenya combined.
According to Baru, with over 14 oil producing countries, Africa currently accounts for 7.5 per cent (126.5 billion barrels of crude oil) and 7.1 per cent (488 Tcf of gas) of global proven oil and gas reserves respectively.
He maintained that in terms of production, the continent accounted for 8.7 per cent (8.1 million barrels per day) of global oil production and 6.1 per cent (21.8bscfd) of global gas production, adding that Africa consumed four million barrels of oil per day and 13.7bscfd of gas (equivalent to 4.1 per cent and 3.9 per cent of global oil and consumption respectively).
Shedding more light on the investment opportunities in Nigeria, Baru said the NNPC’s Frontier Exploration Service was currently drilling the Kolmani River-2 Well where desktop estimates revealed that about 400Bcf of gas was expected to be encountered.
He stressed that several new frontiers for exploration opportunities abound in Nigeria, adding that offshore discoveries in the country had mostly been limited to between 1,000 to 1,500m of water depth.
“Beyond these water depths, the new frontiers of ultra-deep waters need to be tested. And that is where we need the investors,” Baru told participants at the conference.
He noted that unless issues related to legal and regulatory uncertainties, lack of infrastructure, skilled manpower shortage, transparency and accountability were addressed among key stakeholders, the continent’s oil and gas industry might not achieve its full potential.
The International Petroleum conference is organised annually by the London-based Energy Institute and it is a global oil and gas platform where executives and other energy professionals discuss the big issues affecting the sector.
