Shell to invest $25 billion in Nigeria, other countries

Oil giant, Royal Dutch Shell, has announced plans to invest about 25 billion dollars this year in Nigeria and all its oil and gas operation across the world.

Shell made the announcement in its first quarter 2017 financial results released on Thursday.

The report revealed that Shell netted an income of 2.2 billion dollars and was expecting to generate 10 billion dollars in cash flow from the delivery of some of its new projects by 2018.

The company recently announced the resumption of oil production at its 225,000 barrels per day (bpd) Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) field in Nigeria’s deep-waters.

According to the company, the repair of Bonga will ensure sustained production and reduce unscheduled production deferments.

Shell is also involved in a new deep-water project – the 13.5 billion dollars Zabazaba Deepwater project located in Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL) 245.

The net profit, it said, doubled in the first three months of 2017, as rebounding oil prices and refining gains helped boost its revenue.

According to the report, Shell generated a cash flow of 9.5 billion dollars in the quarter, up 13 fold from a year earlier, and the strongest among some of its rivals in the industry.

“We saw notable improvements in upstream and chemicals, which benefited from improved operational performance and better market conditions,” the Shell’s Chief Executive, Ben van Beurden said in the report.

Shell, with operations in more than 70 countries, is Nigeria’s oldest oil producing partner, holding various joint venture and production sharing arrangements with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other foreign oil companies.