Nigeria has approved new, targeted incentives to support Shell’s Bonga South-West deep-offshore oil project, a move aimed at accelerating investment decisions and boosting foreign exchange inflows, President Bola Tinubu said. The incentives were endorsed following a meeting in Abuja with Shell’s global leadership and are designed to unlock new capital while strengthening investor confidence in Nigeria’s offshore energy sector, as stated by the presidency.
According to Reuters, the incentives are investment-linked and ring-fenced, rather than broad fiscal concessions, and will apply specifically to new capital spending, incremental production and enhanced local content delivery. Tinubu directed that the measures be gazetted within existing legal and fiscal frameworks, stressing that they are structured to attract investment without undermining government revenues, as highlighted in an official State House statement.
The Bonga South West project is expected to generate thousands of direct and indirect jobs, increase government revenues and deliver significant foreign exchange earnings over its lifespan. Nigerian officials said the project could also deepen local participation in offshore engineering, fabrication and energy services, supporting wider value addition in the petroleum sector.
Shell executives noted that the incentives build on recent reforms and follow substantial investments already made in Nigeria’s deep-water projects. Analysts say the move signals Nigeria’s intent to remain competitive in attracting large-scale offshore investments at a time when global oil majors are reassessing capital allocation across markets, as reflected in industry commentary cited by ChannelsTv.
