IOCs pledges to deepen investments in Nigeria, Africa for citizens’ benefits
L-R: Moderator of the panel of discussion, Elohor Aiboni, Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO,) Ltd., Mathieu Bouyer, Managing Director and Chief Executive, TotalEnergies Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Michelle Pflueger, Director at Chevron Nigeria Ltd., and Mr Omole, an officer of SAIPEC/PETAN at the 8th Sub-Saharan International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (SAIPEC) 2024 in Lagos.
By Yunus Yusuf
A group of International oil companies operating in Nigeria; TotalEnergies, Shell and Chevron have assured Nigerians of their continued investment in the mineral resources sector in the Africa.
The companies pledge gave the assurance at the on-going 8th Sub-Saharan International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, SAIPEC 2024 on Tuesday in Lagos.
The companies re-emphasised their belief in the development of the continent’s endowed resources to the benefit of its economy
They also highlighted their massive investment to enhance the socio-economic development of the continent where they currently operate.
Mr Mathieu Bouyer, Managing Director and Chief Executive, TotalEnergies Upstream Companies in Nigeria, while enumerating its strategies to develop the available resources in the African continent, Nigeria inclusive, promised to remain in the continent for a long time to come.
According to Bouyer, 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.
He added that their strategy was remain integrated with the optimism 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,” Bouyer explained.
In her contributions at the panel, Elohor Aiboni, Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) Ltd. said, “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.
“If we bring you back home to Nigeria, Shell in Nigeria, 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 said.
She, however, said for the company to be able to achieve these, it had to explore 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 a challenge 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,” she added.
Michelle Pflueger, Director at Chevron Nigeria Ltd., acknowledged Africa as a continent with vast huge resources both in terms of human and mineral reserves which has enabled Chevron to have potential for future growth and innovation.
She said that Chevron, as an international oil company, was poised to go into mutual partnership with African countries to develop those resources for the benefit of all.
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 programme.
“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,” she added.
