Nigeria is targeting a revival of deepwater investment with new tax incentives designed to unleash up to $50 billion in delayed oil and gas projects.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s President, has approved a deepwater offshore investment framework to unlock up to $50 billion in new investment. This reform is crafted to replace project-by-project negotiations with a transparent investment framework and restart the African nation’s large, capital-intensive offshore developments that have remained stalled for decades.
The reform is said to establish a transparent, rules-based investment framework capable of supporting the next generation of deep offshore developments, beginning with the approximately $10 billion Bonga South West project, while strengthening the country’s competitiveness for globally mobile investment capital.
Olu Arowolo-Verheijen, President’s Special Adviser on Oil and Gas, emphasized: “Projects qualifying under the framework will maximise execution within Nigeria wherever commercially and technically feasible, strengthening domestic engineering, fabrication, marine logistics, technical services and project management.
“The objective is not only to increase investment and production, but also to create skilled jobs, deepen local supply chains and position Nigeria as Africa’s regional hub for deep offshore project execution.”
The framework, given effect through the Deep Offshore Oil and Gas Projects Incentives (Tax Remission) Order, 2026, is perceived to substitute project-by-project negotiations with transparent eligibility criteria, clear implementation processes and a durable investment architecture that provides greater certainty for investors while safeguarding long-term national value.
The approval also enables NNPC, as the government’s nominated counterparty under the production sharing contracts (PSCs), to proceed with the necessary amendments to eligible PSCs required to implement the framework.
The decision builds on President Tinubu’s engagement with Wael Sawan, Chief Executive Officer of Shell, during which the president directed the development of the next wave of measures required to unlock Nigeria’s deep offshore investment pipeline.
The federal government transformed the directive into a comprehensive investment framework applicable across multiple categories of qualifying developments rather than pursuing project-specific solutions.
President Tinubu said: “The countries that attract long-term investment are not necessarily those with the greatest natural resources. They are the ones that provide the greatest certainty. This reform reflects our determination to build an investment environment defined by clear rules, strong institutions and enduring partnerships.
“We are creating the conditions for capital to flow, for Nigerian businesses to grow, for our people to prosper and for our natural resources to deliver lasting national value.”
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