Tinubu Support Speeds Up Shell’s Bonga Offshore Oil Development

President Bola Tinubu has approved the gazetting of targeted, investment-linked incentives to support Shell’s proposed Bonga South-West deep-offshore oil project, a move aimed at accelerating fresh capital inflows into Nigeria’s energy sector.

The approval was disclosed in a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja by Mr Sunday Dare, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communication.

The incentives are expected to fast-track Shell’s Final Investment Decision (FID) on the project, which the administration considers strategic to boosting production, jobs, and foreign exchange earnings.

President Tinubu said the approved incentives were carefully designed to attract new investments while safeguarding government revenues and ensuring long-term economic value.

He stressed that the incentives were not broad-based concessions but narrowly focused on encouraging fresh capital commitments and higher output.

“These incentives are not blanket concessions. They are ring-fenced and investment-linked, focused on new capital, incremental production, strong local content delivery and in-country value addition.”

“My expectation is clear: Bonga South-West must reach a Final Investment Decision within the first term of this administration,” Tinubu said.

Tinubu said the project aligns with the government’s objective of restoring investor confidence in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector while driving sustainable growth across the energy value chain.

The President noted that Shell and its partners invested nearly seven billion dollars in Nigeria within the past 13 months.

He said investments in Bonga North and HI showed that Nigeria’s economic and energy-sector reforms were yielding positive results.

In 2019, following the execution of the Heads of Terms (HoT) by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) invited interested bidders for one of its oilfields.

SNEPCo subsequently announced the release of an Invitation to Tender (ITT) to contractors for the development of the Bonga South West Aparo (BSWA) oil field.

The Bonga South West/Aparo project was estimated to cost around $10 billion, with first oil initially expected between 2021 and 2022, and an anticipated production capacity of 225,000 barrels per day to Nigeria’s crude oil output.

In 2024, Shell announced its plan to extend the operational lifespan of its Bonga Floating, Production, Storage, Offloading (FPSO) vessel by an additional 15 years.

In 2025, SNEPCo, a subsidiary of Shell plc, in partnership with Sunlink Energies and Resources Limited, announced the final investment decision (FID) on the HI Gas Project offshore Nigeria.

A statement by Shell said that, upon completion, the project will deliver 350 million standard cubic feet of gas per day — equivalent to about 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent — at peak production to Nigeria LNG (NLNG), in which Shell holds a 25.6% interest.

Shell took a final investment decision on the Bonga North project in December 2024 and recently increased its stake in the Bonga field, consistent with the company’s intention to be a continued disciplined investor in Nigeria’s energy sector through its Deep Water and Integrated Gas businesses.