Tinubu Approves $20bn Deepwater Project
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a $20 billion final investment plan for the Bonga Southwest Aparo deepwater oil project proposed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
The decision is expected to revive a project that had remained stalled for many years.
The approval was announced by NNPC Limited in a statement issued by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Andy Odeh.
The development followed months of technical and commercial discussions involving the national oil company, the Nigeria Revenue Service, the president’s energy adviser Olu Verheijen and the chief executive of Shell, Wael Sawan.
According to NNPC, the presidential decision is expected to unlock the long-delayed project and increase Nigeria’s deepwater oil output.
The company explained that the move followed earlier instructions from the president asking relevant stakeholders to speed up processes required to move the project forward.
NNPC also said the development could attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s oil sector. Once completed, the Bonga Southwest Aparo project is projected to produce about 150,000 barrels of crude oil per day and around 140 million standard cubic feet of gas daily while creating more than 5,000 jobs.
