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By Derrick Bangura
The Nigerian government on Wednesday urged Turkish authorities to consider funding major oil and gas projects in the West African country, in light of the planned exit of major international oil companies (IOCs).
Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, said during a bilateral meeting with the Turkish Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alpersen Bayraktar, on the sidelines of the ongoing CERAWeek in Houston, Texas, that Nigeria was open to foreign investment.
A number of foreign oil companies operating in the country, including Shell, Nigeria’s largest partner in the industry, and ExxonMobil, plan to sell off many of their assets in the country.
Sylva stated that with the planned divestments, especially from the onshore segment of the oil and gas sector, it would be worth the investment for the country.
“Now that IOCs like Shell, ExxonMobil and others are planning to divest from onshore assets. More investments in that sector would be a great opportunity for Turkey to expand its investments interest in Nigeria,” the minister said.
A statement by the Senior Adviser, Media & Communications, Horatius Egua, quoted the minister as saying that, “We are looking at the possibility of Turkey taking interests in more investments in Nigeria.”
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He said the cooperation between Nigeria and Turkey remained very significant, stressing that the relationship could be extended to the energy sector and other areas of trade.
The minister added that with the new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), Nigeria has further streamlined its laws in the oil and gas investment environment and thus making investments in the more attractive to potential investors.
He called on the deputy minister to encourage Turkish investors to come to Nigeria to participate in the new opportunities offered by the exit of the IOCs to consolidate the bilateral relations between both countries.
Sylva assured Bayraktar of good returns on investments in Nigeria, stressing that despite plans by the IOCs to divest from onshore assets, the companies were ramping up investments in offshore assets in the country.
He noted that this was a sign that the Nigeria investment environment is still the desired investment destination in Africa.
The minister added that he expected investors from the country to also take up investments in greenfield assets, noting that the country was prepared to engage in discussions on a government-to-government basis to achieve the desired results.
On his part, Bayraktar solicited the support of Sylva to get Turkey to be part of the Nigerian upstream oil and gas sector, adding that the country was prepared to shore up investments in the area of natural gas, given the right environment.
