TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné met Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday. The French giant said it was ready to invest “six billion dollars over several years” in Nigeria’s energy industry.
During this visit to “reaffirm the long-term partnership” between the company and Africa’s leading crude producer, the French company also promised a long-term investment. On the French side, Patrick Pouyanné was accompanied by his staff, while President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was accompanied by, among others, the head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
In its final press release, TotalEnergies reiterates its “long-term commitment” to Nigeria, and states that the company “has a portfolio of projects that could represent more than six billion dollars in investments over the next few years”.
TotalEnergies, “the country’s leading private investor in the energy sector”, says it is “thoroughly investigating more opportunities for deepwater and gas production”. For his part, the Nigerian president pledged to “remove all obstacles in the oil and gas industry”. “We are ready to work with you,” he said.
The final investment decision for the Ubeta gas project is expected in the first quarter of 2024, while the renewal of the OML 130 license for 20 years in May paved the way for the development of the deepwater Preowei project.
Last June, TotalEnergies also announced the discovery of oil and gas on the Ntokon well of the OML 12 license, offshore Nigeria. However, despite these promising projects, Total has had to relaunch a drilling campaign in an attempt to slow the steady decline in production at the iconic Egina offshore field – which came on stream in 2018. An accidental spill equivalent to around 6,000 barrels was also reported in mid-November near this project, with no impact on production.