The Chief Upstream Investment Officer of the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS), Mr Bala Wunti on Wednesday said that a whopping sum of $18bn would be invested between now and next year in the Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
Wunti said this while speaking during a panel session at the 22nd edition of the NOG Energy week holding in Abuja.
The panel session had as its theme, “The investors perspective: Assessing the attractiveness of Nigeria’s energy sector.”
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Wunti attended the session with the Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Roger Brown; the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd, Elohor Aiboni; Chief Executive Officer of Oilserve Limited Emeka Okwuosa and the Founding Partner Argentil Capital Partners Olumide Ofunfowora.
Discussions on the panel centred around the barriers that currently exist to investing in Nigeria’s energy market and how can the investor’s confidence be strengthened; the fiscal policies required to attract investment into Nigeria’s energy sector beyond hydrocarbons; and the necessary enablers needed for attracting investment into the upstream sector.
Panelists also discussed the funding options available for non-associated gas production and what impact has the Petroleum Industry Act had on the investors’ appetite?
Speaking on the investment opportunities in the oil and gas sector, Wunti stated that the drive to broaden local content and develop capacity in the upstream industry is non-negotiable.
He said, “He said, “About 4 days ago, Total in partnership with NNPC launched Tender for project, that tender will rake in Foreign Direct Investment.
“SNEPCO is about to take a Final Investment Decision on Bonga And that will also give us an investment in the neighbourhood of $4bn. Going back to total we are restarting Preowei project and we expect about $2bn investment.”
“We are significantly advancing Agbami Gas project- and that is bringing in significant investment. Put all these together, we see an outlook within this year and next year somewhere in the neighborhood of $18 to $ 20bn investment.Indeed the opportunities abound.”
He urged all stakeholders not to relent as the opportunities abound, and many more are lined up with an expected uptake in drilling activities, demand for line pipes, and consumables essential for growing production output.
He said economic and social benefits will accrue to the nation for every incremental barrel of production as the industry is central to the Nigerian economy.
Wunti told participants that a solid industry-wide security arrangement is in place, as well as the resolve to drive down the cost of production; noting that the focus has shifted towards consolidating on gains to raise production and spur growth.
This, he added, represents massive opportunities for all stakeholder, noting that direct and indirect jobs will be created, contractors and suppliers will get busier, and the benefits will transcend beyond the industry to other sectors of the economy.
He also urged stakeholders in the oil and gas sector go take advantage of the agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in creating the enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the country.
He said, “A lot of effort is going on between the regulators and the investors. What is key is that there is still a gap in infrastructure.
“If we need government help, we will go to government and get help. What we are lucky today, and I think we should take advantage of it- under the current president Tinubu, he is ready for business and he said, ‘don’t tell me what it is, just tell me how you are going to do’ and here is what I want us to do:
“We don’t have to create project specific fiscal, but we need to create project specific packages and then we document that.”