VICE President Kashim Shettima has welcomed ExxonMobil’s proposed $10 billion dollar investment in Nigeria’s deep-water oil operations, describing it as a clear testament to the administration’s economic reforms and investment-friendly policies.
This is coming just as the international maritime giant, DP World, has announced plans to develop a multibillion-dollar port project in Nigeria.
According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, the Vice President stated this during a high-level meeting with ExxonMobil executives and officials of DP World on the sidelines of the ongoing 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States.
The centrepiece of ExxonMobil’s new strategy is the Owo project, a substantial subsea tie-back that could represent a $10 billion investment, as it aims to inject $1 billion annually into maintenance operations and an additional $1.5 billion to boost production by 50,000 barrels per day over the next few years.
In a related development, the Nigerian government secured a $600,000 relief fund and commitments from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for relief efforts for victims of floods, as well as for health and agricultural sectors’ reforms.
The foundation pledged the $600,000 for flood relief in Borno State and other health sector initiatives, with an additional $5 million grant approved for Lagos Business School and partners to develop the agricultural economics of industrial cassava.
The donation was announced when Vice President Shettima held a meeting with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation led by its head of global development programme, Dr Christopher Elias, on the sidelines of the 79th UNGA.
Shettima reaffirmed the commitment of the administration of President Bola Tinubu to placing health, nutrition, and agricultural development at the forefront of nation’s national agenda.
