Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has revealed plans to invest about $15 billion across 24 oil and gas projects in Nigeria in the next five years.
This was disclosed by the company’s Managing Director, Mr Nosa Okunbor during the 2nd Nigeria Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF), where he spoke on the need for Nigerians to take advantage of the opportunities in the oil industry.
According to Mr Okunbor, in the next five years, Shell would surpass a 70 percent target in the deployment of wholly Nigerian human and material resources to achieve its production benchmark.
Ongoing projects will provide jobs and power over 1.2 million homes
Furthermore, Mr Okunbor stated that the ongoing projects are capable of generating thousands of jobs in the industry. According to him, the Ohaji Gas Plant project in Assa North, Imo State, is capable of generating 1,200 megawatts and powering over 1.2 million Nigerian homes.
“These remain exciting times for Nigeria as Shell along with its partners will be maturing several projects in support of Nigeria’s growth ambition. A cocktail of policies and the active support of government and its agencies like NCDMB have made these investments possible as the industry continues to witness improved cycle times.”
The Managing Director further stated:
“We have an investment portfolio of over $15 billion over the next five years. Shell’s investments will bring huge benefits to the country and its people in terms of contracts and jobs.”
Shell Gas Project to meet 70% domestic content target
On the Shell Gas project, Mr Okunbor revealed that the company has taken a Final Investment Decision (FID) on the 300million scf/d Assa North Ohaji (ANOH) gas project. According to him, upon completion, it is expected to supply gas into the domestic gas market and meet 70% domestic contents.
“In addition to these, we are also maturing several sizeable projects planned to start within the next five years. Twenty-eight projects covering export gas, domestic gas and oil projects spread across Deep Offshore, Shallow Water, Swamp and Land terrains.”
Mr Okunbor, equally stated that”
“Benchmark for all these projects is to meet and where possible surpass the 70% Nigerian Content target. Employment opportunities are huge, not to mention the spin-off in allied services.”
Meanwhile, it was disclosed that the onshore oil opportunities as the drilling and completion of over 100 wells; flowlines and bulk lines of over 700 km, noting that most of the opportunities would be driven by six infill projects.
Oil and Gas gives an economic boost for the country
Recall that Nairametrics had earlier reported that the Federal Government of Nigeria received the sum of $6.3 billion from Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) in 2018.
Now, the gas plant is poised to serve as a boost to the economy, and could even drive down the prices of gas sales which will, in turn, increase consumers purchasing power and reduce organisations’ operational cost.
Also, the investment can play a huge role on the economy, specifically as it patterns to job creation. Creating a new gas plant will absorb a percentage of the teeming unemployed Nigerians.
This is a welcome development.
God bless Nigeria