By Our Reporter, With Agency Reports
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a new regulatory and fiscal framework for Nigeria’s deep offshore oil and gas sector, with the Federal Government projecting that the reform could unlock up to $50 billion in investment and revive long-delayed projects.
The approval, announced on Tuesday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, is aimed at providing greater certainty for investors and improving Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global market for upstream oil and gas capital.
The new framework replaces project-by-project negotiations with a transparent, rules-based system applicable to qualifying deep offshore developments. It was established through the Deep Offshore Oil and Gas Projects Incentives (Tax Remission) Order, 2026, which sets out eligibility requirements and clearer processes for implementing investment incentives.
Nigeria has faced challenges in attracting new upstream investment in recent years, amid regulatory uncertainty, high project costs and increasing competition from other oil-producing jurisdictions. The government expects the new framework to address some of these concerns by creating more predictable fiscal and regulatory conditions for long-term investors.
The reform is expected to support a new wave of offshore developments, with Shell’s long-delayed Bonga South West project among the projects positioned to benefit. The project, estimated at about $10 billion, is expected to reach a final investment decision in 2027.
The decision follows discussions between Tinubu and Shell Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan on measures to unlock Nigeria’s deep offshore investment pipeline. Rather than adopting a separate solution for individual projects, the Federal Government subsequently developed a broader framework intended to apply across multiple qualifying developments.
Under the approved arrangement, NNPC Ltd., acting as the government’s nominated counterparty under Production Sharing Contracts, is authorised to proceed with amendments to eligible contracts required to implement the new framework.
The government said the reform is designed to balance investor certainty with the protection of Nigeria’s long-term economic interests. It also seeks to create conditions that can encourage capital inflows while increasing oil and gas production and strengthening domestic participation in offshore developments.
Local content is a key component of the framework. Qualifying projects will be required to maximise execution within Nigeria wherever commercially and technically feasible, with the government expecting the policy to generate skilled employment, expand local supply chains and increase opportunities for Nigerian businesses.
Olu Verheijen, Special Adviser to the President on Energy, said the reform was intended to ensure that increased offshore investment translates into greater industrial capacity in Nigeria.
She said projects covered by the framework would be expected to maximise local execution where commercially and technically feasible, with the broader objective of increasing investment and production while creating skilled jobs and deepening domestic supply chains.
The government also said the policy could help position Nigeria as a regional hub for deep offshore project execution in Africa.
Tinubu commended the Federal Ministries of Justice, Finance and Petroleum Resources, the Nigeria Revenue Service, NNPC Ltd., the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, as well as other stakeholders and investing partners, for their contributions to the development of the framework.
The President said the reform reflected his administration’s determination to create an investment environment based on predictable rules, stronger institutions and long-term partnerships.
He noted that countries capable of attracting long-term investment are not necessarily those with the largest natural-resource endowments, but those that provide investors with greater certainty.
With the new framework now approved, the government expects Nigeria’s deep offshore sector to attract fresh capital, bring stalled projects closer to development and strengthen the country’s position as a major destination for upstream investment.
