Chinese Investment in Nigerian Oil at $16 Billion

C hinese investments in the oil and gas industry of Nigeria have reached $16 billion, according to a senior official at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, but the industry needs even more to advance its production growth agenda.

Vanguard quotes NNPC’s Group Managing Director Malla Mele Kyari as saying “To have investment of $16b in Nigeria is clearly an indication of your confidence in us. We have a target to grow production to 3m barrels per day by 2023, to do that, we need partners like you. You can count on us because we have common interest.”

The comments were addressed to the management of CNOOC, the third-largest state oil major in China and a company focused on overseas investments. These have become essential for China as domestic production declines due to natural depletion and challenges surrounding the development of new reservoirs, including shale plays, Oil Price reported.

Nigeria is a natural focus for investments despite problems with militant groups that have in the past few years caused several force majeure closures of pipelines and export terminals.

Earlier this year, Nigeria’s oil operations were disrupted several times due to fires, shutdowns, force majeure, and protests. In April and May, a key oil pipeline and a logistics base in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta were rocked by a shutdown and protests in the latest incident that disrupted the Nigerian oil industry.

Nigeria is one of OPEC’s largest producers, with the June average at 1.855 million barrels per day.