Buhari Says Nigeria Attracts $3bn Investment In Fossil Energy

The President Muhammadu Buhari administration has attracted over US$3 billion investment in the Oil and Gas Sector at a time of near-zero appetite for investment in fossil energy.

In a statement on Tuesday, the President’s spokesman, Femi Adesina, quoted the president saying this at the inauguration of the Kolmani Integrated Development Project on Tuesday in Bauchi.

The company is a fully integrated in-situ development project comprising upstream production, oil refining, power generation and fertilizer.

”Considering the land locked location and the huge capital requirement, the economics of the project is a challenging proposition.

”Consequently, from the outset, I instructed NNPC Limited to utilise and leverage their vast asset portfolio across all corridors of its operations to de-risk the project to attract the much-needed investment.

“It is therefore to the credit of this administration that at a time when there is near zero appetite for investment in fossil energy, coupled with the location challenges, we are able to attract investment of over US$ 3 billion to this project,” Buhari said.

Buhari commended NNPCL and its partners for the successful discovery of Oil and Gas in the Kolmani River Field, pointing out that the huge investment the project had attracted will surely be a reference subject for discussion in the industry as we pursue the just energy transition programme that will culminate in our country achieving Net- Zero position by the year 2060.

He listed some of the benefits to include energy and financial security as well as the overall socio-economic development of the country.

President Buhari affirmed that his administration’s charge to NNPCL to explore other Oil and Gas fields beyond the Niger Delta Basins had finally yielded commendable results.

According to the president, similar activities across the other basins are currently actively on-going.

In his remarks, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, who recalled his relationship with the project, expressed his delight to be associated with the project as Minister, having worked with a former Minister of Petroleum Resources when NNDC won the oil prospect lease being flagged off on Tuesday.

Also speaking at the event, the Group CEO NNPCL, Mele Kolo Kyari, noted that the search for oil and gas in the frontier basins of Chad, Sokoto, Anambra Platform, Calabar Embarkment, Benue Trough, Dahomey, Bida and the Ultra Deepwater Niger Delta had spanned decades without significant outcomes.

He, however, commended the singular determination of President Buhari to ensure optimum exploration and exploitation of the nation natural resources, saying this resulted in the discovery of commercial oil and gas deposits in the Kolmani Prospect in April 2019.