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President Tinubu Smiles As Shell and Partners Invest $5bn in Nigeria’s DeepWater

The Bonga North FID dispels the misconceptions about International Oil Companies leaving Nigeria

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu welcomes Shell and its partners’ announcement today  of the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Bonga North Deep Offshore Field.

Also, barring any last-minute changes, President Bola Tinubu will today preside over what is expected to be the final Federal Executive Council meeting for 2024, ahead of his budget presentation at the National Assembly on Tuesday. Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President, (Information & Strategy), said this morning in a State House press release.

It reads: ” This landmark development, Nigeria’s first deepwater oil project in over a decade, underscores the transformative impact of the President’s policies and reforms in attracting investments in the oil and gas sector.

The Bonga North oilfield, located 130 kilometres offshore in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 118, represents an impressive estimated $5 billion investment and is expected to yield approximately 350 million barrels of crude oil.

Shell holds the largest operational interest, with 55%. Its other partners are the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, and Eni.

The FID signals renewed confidence in Nigeria’s energy sector and demonstrates the effectiveness of the Tinubu administration’s strategic focus on engendering a robust and competitive investment climate.

President Tinubu remarked: “The Renewed Hope Agenda fundamentally focuses on attracting investments to transform the Nigerian economy and deliver prosperity to our people.

We designed our policies and reforms from the start of my administration to achieve this goal. Shell and its partners’ decision to invest in Bonga North affirms the success of our efforts. We will continue to offer the necessary support to ensure their success and the realisation of Nigeria’s energy potential.

“President Tinubu’s strategic engagement with global energy stakeholders has been instrumental in this renewed wave of investments.

In July 2023, at the first of several high-level meetings with Shell’s global leadership, President Tinubu declared, “We are open for business and serious about creating a stable, predictable, and investor-friendly environment.

” Presidential Directives issued in early 2024 reinforced this commitment by fast-tracking regulatory approvals, reducing operational costs, and introducing competitive fiscal incentives.

The Bonga North project is the second of the blueprint projects President Bola Ahmed Tinubu selected to drive the implementation of the transformative Presidential Directives 40, 41, and 42 issued in the first quarter of 2024.

These directives, aimed at enhancing regulatory clarity, accelerating project timelines, and incentivising investment in Nigeria’s energy sector, have yielded remarkable results.

Earlier this year, the Ubeta oilfield (OML 58), the first blueprint project under this initiative, achieved a Final Investment Decision (FID) through a partnership between TotalEnergies and NNPC Limited.

Dormant since its discovery in 1965, the Ubeta project will produce 350 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, bolstering domestic supply and expanding Nigeria’s presence in the global energy market.

With both blueprint projects now achieving FID, the success of these initiatives underscores the effectiveness of the President’s strategic vision for Nigeria’s energy future.

Ms Olu Arowolo Verheijen, Special Adviser to the President on Energy, commented on the Bonga North milestone:

“The Bonga North FID dispels the misconceptions about International Oil Companies leaving Nigeria.

Instead, we are witnessing a strategic pivot of IOCs-powered capital and technical capacity to deepwater and integrated gas projects, which align with President Tinubu’s vision of transforming Nigeria into a global energy hub.

The divestments from onshore operations create opportunities for local oil and gas companies to expand and thrive, building a strong foundation for Nigeria’s energy future.

” Ms Verheijen further noted:  “The success of Bonga North and Ubeta demonstrates the efficacy of the reforms and directives championed by the President.

These projects will trigger broader investments to revolutionise Nigeria’s power generation, transportation, and manufacturing sectors.

As we look ahead to 2025, we anticipate further FIDs from international and domestic players, marking a new era of growth and opportunity for Nigeria.

” The Tinubu administration remains steadfast in positioning Nigeria as a global leader in energy innovation and investment, ensuring that these efforts translate into tangible benefits for all Nigerians.

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JUST IN: Filling stations shut after Dangote Refinery’s petrol price drop

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Some filling stations and petroleum products marketers, partners of Dangote Refinery’s petrol, temporarily shut down for the past five days after the latest premium motor spirit price drop by the 650,000 barrels per day refinery.

Recall that for the past five days, MRS filling stations in Abuja, along Kubwa Expressway, and others have not dispensed fuel since Dangote Refinery announced its ex-depot fuel price reduction to N835 per litre on Tuesday, 16 April, 2025.

An official of MRS filling station, who preferred anonymity because he is not authorised to speak said the filling station is grappling with the loss incurred after Dangote’s latest price adjustment.

“It is because of Dangote’s latest price drop. The filling station had old stock, which it couldn’t sell at a loss.

“This is the reason we have shut down since Tuesday. We may reopen on Tuesday,” he said.

Meanwhile, another official at the filling station said the retail outlet is billed to reopen on Tuesday, noting that it has been undergoing minor maintenance.

“We have been on maintenance for the past few days, which is the reason the station was shut. We will reopen on Tuesday,” he said.

According to him, the filling station would commence dispensing at the new price of N910 per litre from Tuesday.

Other partners of Dangote Refinery, such as AP, Ardova, and Optima, are dispensing fuel between N910 and 920 per litre in parts of Abuja as of Monday, 21st April 2025.

Reacting to the development, the National President of Petroleum Retailers Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said the latest fuel price drop affected the purchasing power of petrol retailers and marketers.

According to him, indiscriminate price adjustment, whether downward or upward, is not good for the petroleum downstream sector and the Nigerian economy.

At every point, if prices of petrol are indiscriminately changed without any clearly defined economic reason, the chances that it will impact on the buying power of retailers and marketers are there.

“It is not good for business, the economy, and Nigerians.

“Prices of petrol change for reasons that are understandable with proper information to retailers,” he said.

Recall that Gillis-Harry had earlier called for a six-month fuel price stability plan to halt fluctuations.

Earlier, the spokesperson for the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, had hinted that marketers having old stocks of fuel will incur billions of losses following Dangote’s latest fuel price drop.

Last week became the second time the $20 billion refinery reduced its fuel price nationwide. This indicates a combined downward ex-depot price drop of N45 per litre.

Dangote Refinery had, on 10 April, reduced its gantry price of petrol to N865 per litre.

However, the ex-depot fuel price had further dropped to N835 per litre.

This comes after the federal government’s renewed commitment to the indefinite continuation of the naira-for-crude deal with other local refiners and the drop in global crude prices to around $66 per barrel.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited recently reduced its retail price to N935 per litre for customers in Abuja in response to Dangote Refinery’s latest price cut.

This means that Nigerians currently buy petrol at between N890 and N950 per litre, depending on the location nationwide.

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NNPC’s Olufemi Soneye Emerges NIPR Spokesperson for 2025

Responding, Soneye attributed his recognition by the NIPR with its most exalted spokesperson’s award to the dedication of the entire team at the NNPC.

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Soneye (middle) receive NIPR’s prestigious award .

The Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mr. Olufemi Soneye, has emerged the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) spokesperson of 2025.Announcing the award, the NIPR described Soneye as a “diligent” spokesperson, characterising him as “a strategist.” Soneye’s capacity to shape public opinion, also stood him out of the crowd of spokespersons, according to the Adjudication Committee, Chairman, Dr. Shaibu Hussein.

Represented by a member of the committee chairman, Lami Tuiaka, the chairman said the moment to the conclusion of the award was rigorous and demanding. He also predicated Soneye’s victory on his communication skills, crisis management and overall impact.

“Our committee comprising communication scholars, Public Relations practitioners, and media personalities worked tirelessly to review the nomination, assess performances and deliberate on the winner.

I must report that we carefully examined each nomination, considering factors such as communication skills, crisis management and overall impact,” he said.

Presenting him the plaque at the National Spokespersons Award 2025, chairman of the event Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Power, Hon. Joshua Audu, said the institute would celebrate Soneye throughout 2025 as the current NIPR spokesperson award winner.

He said: ” On behalf of the NIPR Award Night 2025, I have the honour and privilege to present the Spokesperson of the year 2025. Please join me to celebrate our latest spokesperson that we will celebrate throughout 2025 in the person of Olufemi Soneye.”

Responding, Soneye attributed his recognition by the NIPR with its most exalted spokesperson’s award to the dedication of the entire team at the NNPC.

Amid a standing ovation, he said: “We are all happy and I am deeply honoured to receive this award tonight from NIPR. This award reflects the dedication of our entire team and we want to thank NIPR for all they have been doing.”

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Mission to boldly grow food in space labs blasts off

ESA is funding the research to explore new ways of reducing the cost of feeding an astronaut, which can cost up to £20,000 per day.

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Artwork: The experiment will orbit the Earth for three hours before returning to Earth and splashing down off the coast of Portugal.

(BBC): Steak, mashed potatoes and deserts for astronauts could soon be grown from individual cells in space if an experiment launched into orbit today is successful.

A European Space Agency (ESA) project is assessing the viability of growing so-called lab-grown food in the low gravity and higher radiation in orbit and on other worlds.

ESA is funding the research to explore new ways of reducing the cost of feeding an astronaut, which can cost up to £20,000 per day.

The team involved say the experiment is a first step to developing a small pilot food production plant on the International Space Station in two years’ time.

Lab-grown food will be essential if Nasa’s objective of making humanity a multi-planetary species were to be realised, claims Dr Aqeel Shamsul, CEO and founder of Bedford-based Frontier Space, which is developing the concept with researchers at Imperial College, London.

“Our dream is to have factories in orbit and on the Moon,” he told BBC News.

“We need to build manufacturing facilities off world if we are to provide the infrastructure to enable humans to live and work in space”.

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