Nigeria, China to expand $16bn trade investment

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) are set to expand the $16 billion trade investment in Nigeria.

The disclosure was made by the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari on Thursday, when the Executive Vice President of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, Mr Lu Yan Ji, paid him a business visit at the NNPC Towers in Abuja.

According to the NNPC, strategic partnership and new investments in the Upstream Petroleum Sector are essential for it to actualise the nation’s crude oil reserves, and drive the oil production target of 3 million barrels per day by 2023.

While commending the CNOOC for its plan to expand its investment in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, Kyari assured the visitors of the Corporation’s support and noted that there was a need to improve the nation’s revenue profile through new investments in the Petroleum Sector.

“To have an investment of $16 billion in Nigeria is clearly an indication of your confidence in us. We have a target to grow production to 3 million barrels per day by 2023. To do that, we need partners like you. You can count on us because we have a common interest.”

In his remark, Mr Lu Yan Ji stated that Nigeria is one of the company’s largest investment destination with an investment outlay of about $16 billion.

Speaking further, the CNOOC Vice President disclosed that while the Corporation currently produces 800,000 barrels per day worldwide, it has a target to hit 1.2 million barrels per day and Nigeria is one of the targeted countries to actualize the target.

He thereby called for NNPC’s support in securing the investments, adding that there was a need for both National Oil Corporations to work closely together.

Specifically, CNOOC started business operations in Nigeria in 2005. It currently has interest in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 130 in partnership with NNPC, Total and Petrobras.