The French government says it has set aside about €1 billion to invest in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, to strengthen its economic relations in Africa.

France’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Denys Gauer, disclosed this when the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Ndu Ughamadu, visited him in his office in Abuja.

Gauer, who named Nigeria as France’s first economic trading partner in Africa, said the French Development Agency (FDA) has already packaged about €1 billion to encourage French investors to invest in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.

He said some French companies interested in coming to do business in Nigeria include investors currently developing wind and solar energy solutions in Katsina State.

He said the French government was also cooperating with the Federal Government in its fight against Boko Haram insurgency in the North-eastern part of the country.

While commending the Federal Government for stemming the Niger Delta insecurity menace, the envoy noted that Total, a French oil and gas company already operating in Nigeria, had significant investment equity in the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) and Egina projects.

The Nigeria LNG is a multi-billion dollar company owned by four shareholders, namely, the NNPC holding equity on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria (49 per cent), Shell BV (25.6 per cent), Total LNG Nigeria Limited (15 per cent) and ENI (10.4 per cent).

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The six trains plant has the capacity to produce 22 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and five MTPA of natural gas liquids (NGLs) (LPG and Condensate) from 3.5 billion standard cubic feet per day (bcf/d) of natural gas intake.

The ambassador said he was concerned that other French companies already in the country were grappling with challenges associated with unclear fiscal policies guiding operations in the oil and gas sector.

Earlier, Ughamadu said the corporation, under the current management, was well positioned and open to fresh investments from the French government and investors.

He said with the significant drop in pipeline vandalism and other security issues that had dissuaded investments in oil production in the past five years, global investors, including the French government, could take full advantage of.

He identified possible opportunities to include renewable energy, gas and power infrastructural development, pipeline construction, storage facility and the direct sales and direct purchase of Nigerian crude oil grades.

“The NNPC as the state-owned oil and gas corporation has global operations. We want closer collaboration between the French government and the corporation, especially in the area of consular services, to enable NNPC top executives and staff meet their global engagements,” he said.