President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has hailed Shell’s $2 billion Final Investment Decision (FID) for a new gas project in the shallow offshore HI Field, located in OML 144, as a testament to Nigeria’s revitalized investment climate.
The announcement marks Nigeria’s third major oil and gas FID in the last 18 months, bringing total upstream investment commitments to over $8 billion since Tinubu took office in 2023.
The Non-Associated Gas (NAG) development project is set to deliver approximately 350 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscf/d) from 2028, equivalent to nearly a third of the gas requirements for Nigeria LNG Limited’s Train 7 project.
Combined with the Ubeta Non-Associated Gas project and the Bonga North deepwater project, these initiatives will supply up to 15 percent of NLNG’s total feedgas needs for Trains 1 to 7, enhancing Nigeria’s position in the global LNG market.
The HI gas field, discovered in 1985, is being unlocked through Presidential Directive 40, which introduced competitive fiscal frameworks for non-associated gas in onshore and shallow offshore fields.
President Tinubu’s reforms, coordinated by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, have focused on fiscal incentives, regulatory clarity, simplified processes, reduced contracting costs, and shorter approval timelines.
These measures, now enshrined in legislation, have restored investor confidence and positioned Nigeria as a competitive destination for global energy investments.Olu Arowolo Verheijen, Special Adviser to the President on Energy, emphasized the transformative impact of these projects.
“With the Ubeta FID and now the HI FID, we have secured the gas supply needed to make NLNG Train 7 not just possible, but transformative,” Verheijen said.
The projects are expected to bolster Nigeria’s LNG exports, increase domestic LPG supply, reduce imports, boost foreign exchange earnings, and promote clean cooking access for millions of households.
Shell’s Upstream President, Peter Costello, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to Nigeria’s energy sector, noting that the HI project will support the country’s ambition to become a significant player in the global LNG market while growing Shell’s integrated gas portfolio.
The NLNG Train 7 project, supported by these FIDs, will expand Nigeria’s LNG production capacity by 8 million metric tonnes annually—a 35 percent increase—while fostering job creation, economic growth, and SME development in host communities.
President Tinubu reiterated his administration’s commitment to fostering an enabling environment for investors, stating, “This major FID announcement by Shell, their second in one year, is a clear validation of our wide-ranging reform efforts and a signal to the world that Nigeria is fully open for business and investment.”
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