The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru says that over 48 billion dollars investment opportunities are in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.

Baru disclosed this in a statement issued in by the NNPC Spokesman, Mr Ndu Ughamadu, in Abuja, on Thursday.

The GMD called on investors to utilise the over 48 billion dollars investment opportunities available in the upcoming capital projects within Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry.

Ughamadu said Baru disclosed this at a Panel Session on the topic “Insights on Future Exploration Hotspots: Opportunities for Africa’s Oil & Gas Industry” under the sub-theme “The New Frontier for Africa’s Oil & Gas” at the 2019 International Petroleum (IP) Week conference in London.

The IP Week is a global oil and gas platform where executives and other energy professionals discuss the big issues affecting the sector.

It is organised annually by the London-based Energy Institute.

Baru said that the NNPC’s Frontier Exploration Service was currently drilling the Kolmani River-2 Well where desktop estimates revealed that about 400 bcf of gas was expected to be encountered.

He stressed that several new frontiers for exploration opportunities abound in Nigeria, even as offshore discoveries in the country had mostly been limited to between 1,000 – 1,500m of water depth.

“Beyond these water depths, the new frontiers of ultra-deep waters need to be tested. And that is where we need the investors,” he told the audience.

He noted that unless issues related to Legal and Regulatory uncertainties, lack of infrastructure, skilled manpower shortage, transparency and accountability were addressed among key stakeholders, the continent’s oil and gas industry might not achieve its full potential.

On the potentials of the industry in Africa, he said the continent’s energy outlook was looking positive amid difficult operating and economic headwinds.

He added that over 41 billion barrels of oil and 319 trillion cubic feet of gas were yet to be discovered in sub-Saharan Africa alone, while between 2008 and 2017, exploratory success in the sub-region was at least 45 per cent.

According to him, there has been a surge in the capital expenditure (CAPEX) across Africa’s oil and gas sector, with close to 194 billion dollars earmarked to be spent between 2018 and 2025 on 93 upcoming oil and gas fields in Africa.

“Out of this 194 billion dollars , Nigeria accounts for 48.04 billion dollars (over 24.8%) of the total CAPEX coming into upcoming projects in Africa over 2018 to 2025, with over 20 planned projects,” Baru said.

The GMD observed that 23.8 per cent of the CAPEX in Africa would be spent in Mozambique, 11.3 per cent in Angola while about 29.2 per cent would be spent in Tanzania, Senegal, Mauritania, Uganda, Egypt, Algeria and Kenya combined.

Baru noted that with over 14 oil producing countries, Africa currently accounts for 7.5 per cent (barrels of crude oil) and 7.1 per cent (488 Tcf of gas) of global proven oil and gas reserves.

On production, he said the continent accounted for 8.7 per cent (8.1 million barrels per day) of global oil production and 6.1 per cent (21.8 bscfd) of global gas production.

He further that the continent , consumed four Million barrels of oil per day and 13.7 bscfd of gas (equivalent to 4.1% and 3.9% of global oil and consumption ).