Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Nigeria’s deepwater oil projects has moved from the bottom quartile of 13 indexed countries to the top three in global rankings, as the country positions itself to tap into $90 billion in global deepwater financing, Ms. Olu Verheijen, Special Adviser to the President on Energy, has said.
According to Verheijen, Nigeria’s energy sector is experiencing a transformative shift, with significant progress already made under President Bola Tinubu’s ambitious reform agenda, thus securing just 20% of this finance would fund five major deepwater projects, unlocking 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
The Presidential Advisor at the just concluded 42nd Annual International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, outlined key successes in Tinubu’s administration’s energy reform efforts, particularly in oil and gas, marking a crucial turning point for the industry.
According to her, the Final Investment Decision, FID, for the $500 million Ubeta Non-Associated Gas project was in April 2024, has finally unlocked the potential of the Ubeta gas field discovered in 1965.
The Presidential Advisor announced that Tinubu’s administration has also made historic strides in deepwater exploration, notably, a fiscal framework for deepwater gas has been established for the first time, and Nigeria’s deepwater oil projects were now delivering competitive returns.
Verheijen also confirmed that Nigeria was gearing up for its first greenfield deepwater development FID since the Egina project in 2013, signaling further investment and growth in the sector.
She said, “Because the reforms targeted actual bottlenecks and real projects in the investment pipelines, in April this year, FID was reached on the Ubeta Non-Associated Gas project, a half-a-billion dollar project. The Ubeta field was discovered in 1965 and has finally been unlocked to deliver prosperity to multitudes of Nigerian lives and businesses.
“For deepwater gas, we have gone from a total absence of a fiscal framework to now having one for the first time in our history.
“Nigeria’s deepwater oil projects now deliver competitive returns. Nigeria has now moved from the bottom quartile of 13 indexed countries to the top three.
“We are now positioned to tap into $90 billion in financing that will be available for deepwater projects around the world, by IOCs that are already operating in Nigeria. Accessing 20 percent of this would be more than enough to bring 5 major deepwater projects on-stream, unlocking 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
“It is still early days for our reform journey, but I am an optimist, you have to be one to do this job. So we look to the future with excitement, not fear. We know that when we take the right decisions, we will see the right results.”
