China Oil Firm to Invest $3bn in Stakes in Nigeria

Chineme Okafor in Abuja

The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) has expressed its readiness to invest additional $3 billion in its existing stakes in offshore oil and gas operations in Nigeria, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) disclosed on Sunday.

According to NNPC’s Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, in a statement in Abuja, a team of CNOOC’s top executives were at the corporation for this reason.

Ughamadu explained that the team was led by CNOOC’s Chief Executive Officer, Yuan Guangyu, who reportedly described its investment in Nigeria as its most strategic and important overseas business undertaking.

He said CNOOC had invested over $14 billion in its Nigerian operations, and called on the management of the NNPC to seek common grounds of beneficial interest with CNOOC for enhanced productivity.

Guangyu also said that Nigeria has remained the largest investment destination for CNOOC.

The statement quoted the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, who was represented by Dr. Victor Babatunde Adeniran, the corporation’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Ventures, to have thanked CNOOC for its interest in Nigeria’s petroleum industry.

He said the corporation was open to new investments and would foster meaningful and mutually beneficial relations with credible entities like CNOOC.

The statement said CNOOC was founded in 1982, and is one of China’s three big national oil entities. It added that CNOOC is originally focused on offshore upstream exploration and production, while the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is slanted towards onshore upstream exploration and production. SINOPEC, the third of the tripod, it explained, is focused on refining and marketing.