Oil coys to invest $17.3bn in new projects

Several ongoing key oil and gas projects in Nigeria, in the next seven years, will receive huge investments boast by the International Oil Companies (IOCs) with as much as N6.23 trillion ( $17.3 billion, so says a global data report on oil and gas.

According to the report, a capital expenditure of $40.7 billion is expected to be spent on the development of “planned projects” in sub-Saharan Africa between 2018 and 2025.

A total of $117.1 billion is expected to be spent on key “announced projects” within the seven-year period.

In sub-Saharan Africa, 64 planned and announced crude and natural gas projects are expected to kick off in the period under review.

Of that number, Nigeria accounts for 23 planned and announced projects — a significant 36 percent of the planned oil and gas investments in sub-Saharan Africa.

Furthermore, the report said 10 planned projects are expected to start operations while 13 projects will be announced in the period under review.

Listing the companies with the highest share of investment, the report said Eni, Royal Dutch Shell and Total will invest heavily in the sector with $7.2 billion, $5.6 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively.

The highest level of spending on early-stage announced projects will be done by Shell, Exxon Mobil and Eni with $15.5 billion, $12.9 billion and $6.9 billion spent on capital expenditure in the seven-year period.

Ahmadu-Kida Musa, a deputy managing director at Total, on Thursday said integration of the topsides of the locally assembled $3.8 billion Egina FPSO (floating, production, storage and offloading vessel) has been completed and will sail to the Egina oil field before December.

Bayo Ojulari, managing director, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Development Company (SNEPCo), recently projected increased investment in the upstream sector, saying no less than seven FPSOs will be built in the country in the next 15 years.