TotalEnergies has announced the signing of a cooperation agreement with Nigeria’s oil firm NNPC Ltd for conducting methane detection and measurement campaigns using its advanced drone-based AUSEA technology on oil and gas facilities in Nigeria.
The French company head, Patrick Pouyanne, held a meeting with Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu in Abuja on Monday, reiterating its commitment to business interests in Nigeria.
According to a statement from President Tinubu’s office, Total Energies has committed to “invest $6 billion in the coming years,” with a focus on offshore oil projects and gas production across all terrains, as stated by Pouyanne.
Tinubu’s meeting with Pouyanne follows similar discussions with oil majors Shell and Exxon Mobil as part of efforts to attract capital to Africa’s leading energy producer.
The statement notes that Nigeria’s oil output, the largest economy in Africa, has experienced a decline over the years due to large-scale theft and sabotage.
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However, recent months have seen an uptick, aided by offshore production, which is less susceptible to attacks.
Tinubu has committed to removing “anti-investment impediments in the oil and gas industry” and providing incentives to producers to enhance gas output.
The pledge from an oil major to commit $6 billion to the Nigeria oil and gas industry comes after other oil majors like Shell who recently pledged to invest $5 billion into Nigeria’s deep-water project at Bonga North.
The special adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen recently announced securing $13 billion in investments in the oil and gas sector from IOCs like Shell, ExxonMobil and others.
Nigeria’s oil sector has seen divestments from oil majors in recent times especially from onshore fields into deep water projects citing insecurity, maturing wells and others.
President Tinubu since his inauguration has sought to address issues leading to divestments in not just the oil sector but across all sectors of the economy.