Nigeria is targeting up to $21bn in investment and peak production of about 175,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the Bonga Southwest/Aparo deepwater project as the Federal Government moves to unlock one of the country’s largest new offshore developments.
The project took a major step towards Final Investment Decision (FID) on Monday following the execution of addenda to the OML 118 Production Sharing Contract (PSC) and Dispute Settlement Agreement (DSA) between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and the OML 118 contractor parties.
The contractor parties comprise Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited (NAE).The agreements give effect to fiscal and commercial terms approved by the Federal Government for the development of the Bonga Southwest/Aparo project, while providing a framework for the partners to advance the project towards FID.
The NNPC Ltd said on Monday that the project is expected to attract between $15bn and $21bn in investment over its life, with peak production estimated at about 175,000bpd of oil and 140 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas.
The development is expected to boost Nigeria’s oil and gas output, government revenues and foreign exchange earnings, while creating opportunities for local contractors, suppliers and service companies.
The milestone comes after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the Deep Offshore Oil and Gas Projects Incentives (Tax Remission) Order, 2026, which forms part of the Federal Government’s efforts to improve the competitiveness of Nigeria’s deepwater oil and gas sector.
The government has positioned the fiscal reforms as measures aimed at attracting fresh capital into deepwater projects that require significant upfront investment and have long development cycles.
Commenting on the development, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Bashir Ojulari, said the execution of the agreements demonstrated the impact of the government’s reforms on investment decisions.’
“The execution of the BSWAp PSC and DSA Addenda demonstrates the effectiveness of President Tinubu’s reforms in translating policy into investment,” Ojulari said.
“This is about unlocking a major deepwater project and demonstrating that Nigeria has a competitive fiscal framework and a clear pathway for sustainable investment in its energy sector.”
He added that NNPC would continue working with the Federal Government, its partners and other stakeholders to ensure that the project delivers value to the country.
The project has also advanced technically, with the contractor parties announcing the completion of the Pre-Front End Engineering Design (Pre-FEED) phase.
The completion marks a significant step in defining the technical and commercial scope of the development and positions the project to move into the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) phase, subject to the required partner, assurance and governance approvals.
A preferred contractor for the project’s Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility has also been identified following a competitive selection process
