…The framework has the potential to unlock up to $50 billion in investment, beginning with the approximately $10 billion Bonga South West project.
WED AUG 12 2026-theGBJournal| Dear Nigerians, For many years, Nigeria has possessed some of the most promising deep offshore oil and gas resources in the world, yet several major developments have remained stalled.
Oil lies beneath our waters. We have the engineers, businesses and young people capable of doing increasingly sophisticated work in the sector.
What has often been missing is the certainty required for investors to commit billions of dollars, over many years, at the scale needed to turn that potential into production, jobs and opportunity for Nigerians.
We cannot afford to leave that opportunity beneath our waters for another decade.
I have therefore signed the Deep Offshore Oil and Gas Projects Incentives (Tax Remission) Order, 2026, to provide clear and predictable terms for a new generation of deep offshore investment in Nigeria.
The framework has the potential to unlock up to $50 billion in investment, beginning with the approximately $10 billion Bonga South West project. For existing deep offshore leases, there is a clear window to reach Final Investment Decision by 31 December 2029 and receive the full standard incentive available under the Order.
There is urgency to this work. Capital moves, and countries compete for it every day. 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.
Nigeria must be one of those countries.
This Order marks the tenth major policy directive of my administration targeted specifically at the oil and gas sector.
Each has dealt with a constraint holding back investment, production or value creation.
Taken together, they represent a deliberate effort to make our oil and gas industry more competitive, attract capital back to Nigeria and ensure that more of the value created from our resources remains here at home.
But attracting investment is only half of my purpose.
I want the work that comes with these projects to come home to Nigeria. I want our engineers involved, our fabrication yards working, our marine and technical service companies securing contracts, and our young people acquiring skills that will remain valuable long after the first barrel is produced.
The Order reflects this priority. For projects accessing its supplementary incentives, activities are to be performed in Nigeria, subject to clearly defined exceptions and Nigerian Content requirements.
My ambition is that we use this new investment cycle to build Nigeria into Africa’s regional hub for deep offshore project execution. We should not only possess the resources. We should increasingly possess the skills, businesses and industrial capacity required to develop them.
When I engaged the Chief Executive Officer of Shell plc, Mr Wael Sawan, I directed my team to look beyond a solution for one company or one project. We needed a framework that could unlock a wider pipeline of investment while protecting Nigeria’s long-term interests.
That framework is now in place.
Ultimately, I will judge its success by what Nigerians see from it in terms of good jobs, stronger Nigerian businesses, greater production, increased revenues for the Federation and new capabilities built here at home.
Our natural resources must work harder for our people.
That is the purpose of this decision, and we will pursue it with urgency.
Nigeria First.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
Federal Republic of Nigeria
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