Nigeria Opens 50 Oil and Gas Blocks in $10 Billion Investment Push

Nigeria has tendered 50 oil and gas blocks, eyeing $10 billion in new investments over the next ten years and 400,000 barrels daily in additional production capacity, local media report.

The blocks on offer include 15 offshore deposits, 19 frontier fields, and one deepwater block, the head of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, said.

“The Commission understands that in today’s volatile global energy landscape, certainty and predictability have become the true currencies of investment,” Komolafe said, adding that “Through extensive multi-client surveys, the NUPRC has reprocessed thousands of kilometres of 2D and 3D seismic data, producing sharper, higher-resolution images of our petroleum systems and reducing uncertainties that once hindered exploration decisions.”

The oil commission first announced the tender in November, when Komolafe reviewed progress already made in the investment encouragement space. Since the start of this year, 46 field development plans have been approved, the active rig count has topped 60, and crude output has climbed to 1.71 million barrels per day, peaking at 1.83 million. The official also said recent final investment decisions—including $5 billion for Bonga North, $500 million for Ubeta Gas, and $2 billion for Shell’s HI Gas project—reflect renewed investor confidence in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

Lately, oil majors have been boosting their presence in Nigeria, in further evidence of progress on the part of the country’s government. Last week, Shell completed the acquisition of an additional 10% interest in Nigeria’s OML 118 Production Sharing Contract, raising its stake in the deep-water Bonga field from 55% to 65% and reinforcing its commitment to growing upstream output.

TotalEnergies, meanwhile, sold a 40% stake in two exploration licenses offshore Nigeria to Chevron, retaining another 40% in the acreage, remaining operator of the projects. A senior TotalEnergies executive said the tie-up with Chevron would derisk and develop new opportunities in the West African oil producer.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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