The Federal Government, following the planned divestment of some International Oil Companies (IOC) from Nigeria, has begun moves to woo the Turkish government into investing in Nigeria’s onshore and natural gas sector.
Speaking during a bilateral meeting with the Turkish Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alpersen Bayraktar, on the side-line of the ongoing Ceraweek, in Houston, Texas, Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said Nigeria was opened to more Turkish investments in the hydrocarbon sector.
According to him, the exit of the IOCs offers new investment opportunities to consolidate the bilateral relations between both countries.
“We are looking at the possibilities of Turkey taking interests in more investments in Nigeria now that IOC like Shell, Exxon Mobil and others are planning to divest from onshore assets, more investments in that sector would be a great opportunity for Turkey to expand its investments interest in Nigeria,” he said.
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The minister, speaking further, noted that with the new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), Nigeria has further streamlined its laws in the oil and gas investment environment, thus making investments in the oil and gas sector of the economy more attractive to potential investors.
He also assured of good return on investments in Nigeria stressing that despite plans by the IOC to divest from Onshore assets, the companies were ramping up investments in offshore assets in the country.
“This is a sign that the Nigeria investment environment is still the desired investment destination in Africa.
“Nigeria was also opened for Turkey investors taking up investments in Greenfield assets, the country is prepared to engage in discussions on a government-to-government basis to achieve the desired results,” he said.
He said the cooperation between Nigeria and Turkey is very significant and we can extend our relationship in energy and other areas of trade.
Bayraktar, on his part sought the support of Sylva to get Turkey to be part of the Nigerian upstream oil and gas sector adding Turkey was prepared to shore up investments in the area of natural gas in Nigeria if given the opportunity.
