
The growing presence of new globally acclaimed exploration and production Companies in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas upstream sector is palpably adduced to the prevalent conducive attractiveness Nigeria’s oil and sector has presented in the global energy scene. The recent entry Vaalco Energy is undoubtedly owing to the prevailing commitment of the present administration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s commitment to drive the country’s oil production through numerous attractive investment initiatives and reforms.
Disclosing this latest investment milestone in the Nigerian energy sector, while receiving the management of Vaalco Energy in office, the Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Oil, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri stated that the Nigeria’s relentless driving objective to increase oil production through attractive incentives and reforms to increase oil production still the unalloyed commitment of the present administration.
“In driving our objective of increasing oil production, we remain fully committed to providing globally competitive incentives for both new investors and those seeking to re-enter Nigeria’s oil industry. As part of this ongoing effort, I received a delegation from Vaalco Energy, an American independent oil and gas exploration and development company,” Senator Heineken said.
VAALCO Energy, Inc., a leading independent exploration and production company headquarters in Houston, Texas, has established an investment presence in African exploration and production spread across Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. Its recent visit to Nigeria is to express its intention to re-enter Nigeria’s oil industry with the acquisition of Svenska’s PSC interest in OML 145.
The Minister further expressed the bold investment pursuit of the Vaalco Energy company in Nigeria’s upstream business necessitated by the renewed hope and confidence the administration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu has restored in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, which is now enhanced by attractive reforms and incentives. He declared that the global investors are now committed to long-term investment opportunities in the country’s energy sector.
“Their visit reflects the growing investor confidence in our sector and is a strong indication that the reforms and incentives we have introduced are producing tangible results. I emphasized our particular interest in welcoming back companies that previously operated in Nigeria but exited due to various challenges.“We are creating a business environment that not only attracts investment but encourages long-term commitment and active production, and Vaalco’s renewed interest in holding and developing assets in Nigeria aligns perfectly with our strategic production goals,” He added
OML 145 is located 113 kilometres offshore in between 1,000 and 1,500 metres of water. The licence includes two undeveloped discoveries, Uge, two single-well discoveries (Nza and Orso), and five new prospects for oil and gas discoveries, none of which are enough to be developed commercially. A pre-FEED study was conducted in 2018, but anything below 450 million barrels was deemed too small to be viable. The block had previously been named OPL 214 but was converted to OML145 in 2014.