December 8, 2023 [Reuters]- Shell (SHEL.L) sees a $5 billion offshore oil investment opportunity in Nigeria and pledged to spend a further $1 billion in five to 10 years to boost natural gas output for domestic supplies and exports, a presidential spokesperson said on Thursday, citing Shell’s director of gas and upstream operations.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu held talks with Shell’s Zoe Yujnovich in a move to attract capital to Africa’s top energy producer, presidential spokesperson Ajuri Ngelale said in a statement.

Yujnovich was cited as saying Shell has “an imminent $5 billion investment opportunity” in the offshore Bonga North oil project.

“I am really keen to make that investment as soon as possible. We want to continue and build a pipeline of new investments in Nigeria,” Yujnovich said.

A Shell spokesperson confirmed talks with the Nigerian president but declined to give further details because the discussions were private.

Nigeria’s oil output has been in decline for years, hobbled by large-scale theft and sabotage. It has picked up in recent months, helped by offshore production that is less prone to attacks.

Tinubu pledged to resolve “all investment-related issues” slowing the flow of capital into Nigeria’s energy industry.

“There is no bottleneck that is too difficult for us to remove in our determined march toward making Nigeria the African haven for large-scale investments,” Tinubu was quoted as saying.

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