The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) announced on Tuesday, March 10, that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a targeted fiscal incentive to unlock the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Bonga Southwest Aparo (BSWA) deepwater project.
The approval, communicated in a press statement signed by Andy Odeh, Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC, is expected to attract around $20 billion in foreign direct investment, boosting deepwater production and sustainable economic growth.
According to the statement, the approval followed months of detailed technical and commercial negotiations involving NNPC as concessionaire, the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, and Shell CEO Wael Sawan.
The move comes after a presidential directive during a courtesy visit by Sawan to fast-track the enablers required for the project’s FID.
NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, said: “This approval is a testament to the President’s leadership, NNPC’s disciplined execution and our ability to structure complex, bankable transactions that deliver value for Nigeria.
“For nearly two decades, the Bonga Southwest project remained stalled. Today, under President Tinubu’s reform-driven leadership and through NNPC’s sustained advocacy, we have broken that logjam. This is what partnership, persistence, and policy clarity can achieve.”
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Ojulari added, “This milestone further affirms NNPC’s commitment, under the President’s leadership, to unlocking Nigeria’s vast energy potential through partnerships, disciplined innovation and execution excellence.”
The Bonga Southwest project will be the first FID on a Nigerian deepwater Production Sharing Contract asset since 2008.
The fiscal package includes an enhanced Production Tax Credit and resolution of a 2021 dispute, creating a competitive framework that balances national value with investor returns.
NNPC, working with SNEPCo and other contractors, developed fiscal solutions addressing structural constraints while safeguarding Nigeria’s long-term interests.
The project is expected to generate over 5,000 jobs and deliver 150,000 barrels per day of crude oil alongside 140 million standard cubic feet per day of gas.
With presidential approval secured, NNPC and its partners are set to progress toward FID, unlocking multi-billion-dollar investments and transforming Nigeria’s deepwater energy landscape.