… say they have to plan to leave Nigeria
International oil companies operating in Nigeria have assured that they will continue to invest in the huge mineral resources available in the African continent for the benefit of its citizens and economies.
The companies re-emphasized their belief in the development of the resources with which the continent is endowed to the benefit of its economy at the ongoing 8th Sub-Saharan International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, SAIPEC 2024 in Lagos, Nigeria.
They also highlighted the massive investment they are making or have made to enhance the socio-economic development of the citizens of the continent in the various countries where they are currently operating
TotalEnergies while enumerating its strategies to develop resources available in the African continent and Nigeria, said it is quite big in Africa and it will want to remain in the continent for a very long time.
According to Mathieu Bouyer, Managing Director and Chief Executive, TotalEnergies Upstream Companies in Nigeria, he said: “One of the peculiarities of the company’s energy operation in Africa, is that it is integrated. All our businesses are deployed to Africa as a continent; we are in Upstream, Downstream, Midstream, Solar Energy, and renewable energies in some of the countries.
“Historically, the presence of the company was more upstream in the Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria, of course, Angola, and Congo. However, we now see more and more new projects developed in the East African side, these include places such as Mozambique and South Africa as well, and we keep exploring the resources with large discovery in Namibia.”
He said, clearly, the strategy of the company is to remain integrated, it believes that having a large and strong network of service stations and giving access to people and resources that have been mentioned before, is important to get connected to the people.
“There is volatility in the oil and gas business, this has never stopped TotalEnergies deploying, and developing resources and technology to enhance optimal utilization of the resources for the benefit of the countries, the people, and the company itself.
We are active in the field of renewable in South Africa and building some hydro in some countries; this is a new business for TotalEnergies that it has launched in some African countries.”
Shell
In her contribution during the discussion by the panel, Elohor Aiboni, Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO,) Limited, she stated, as for us in Shell businesses across Africa, the company will continue to explore new territories.
“You may have heard that we are also in Namibia, exploring, we have other countries where we are working. We have got downstream businesses in some countries across Africa,” she said.
“If we bring you back home, to Nigeria, Shell in Nigeria, it is all about growing our gas and deepwater businesses. These are our focus in the near term, short term, medium term, and long term.
She, however, said for the company to be able to do these, it has got to explore using a lot of technologies to stay competitive and empower the local contractors to help cut costs. We have got to look around the supply chain from end to end, to see how it helps to drive the business, most especially in the world we live –in today, it is a challenging world.
“If you look at the supply chain, in the last couple of years, it has been from Covid to the war in Ukraine, and several other things happening in the world today. It has continued to be challenging doing business, but we will continue to look for innovative ways that could help to reduce cost, and also drive efficiency in our business, so it is highly competitive and we stay very relevant in the oil and gas business today to help us survive and still stand tall inspite all the challenges.”
Chevron
She said: “If you look at Chevron’s portfolio, we are one of the top producers in Nigeria and Angola, we have some investments which include the West African Gas Pipeline, through which Nigeria’s gas goes to Ghana, Togo, and Benin. We also have investments in Cameroun Equatorial Guinea and Egypt”
“We believe that energy is a fundamental building block of the economies and this is important to the economic life of a country
As we continue to develop our partnership within Africa, we can support the people and the governments to improve their GDPs.
If you look through our investments in the region, I think one of the notable things about Chevron is that it has continued to invest in the continent. We are continuing with our large investment in Africa, we are continuing large investment here in Nigeria; we have recently financed a very large drilling program. In the last few years, we have introduced renewable energy into our portfolio, we had our first LNG cargo out of Equatorial Guinea, and the West Africa Gas Pipeline has continued to deliver large volumes of gas to a vast region in the African continent. I am very proud of Chevron and the investment it has made in Nigeria and Africa