Shell CEO Wael Sawan met with Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to discuss advancing the long-stalled Bonga South West Aparo (BSWA) deepwater oil project. Sawan stated the total required investment with partners could reach $20 billion, with a final investment decision (FID) targeted for 2027, a timeline the president explicitly wants accelerated to within his current term, which ends in May 2027.

Project Details and Investment Climate

The BSWA project involves a 150,000 barrels per day floating production, storage and offloading vessel. Sawan framed the potential $20 billion investment—split evenly between capital and operating expenses—as a major vote of confidence in Nigeria, driven by recent policy reforms, fiscal incentives, and a clearer regulatory framework for deep-offshore projects. He noted Nigeria is now a very competitive environment attracting significant capital allocation compared to other countries.

Government Incentives and Conditions

President Tinubu approved the gazetting of bespoke, targeted fiscal incentives for the BSWA project. He emphasized these are not blanket concessions but are disciplined, investment-linked, and ring-fenced to attract new capital and incremental production without undermining government revenues. The incentives are tied to strong local content delivery and in-country value addition.

Strategic and Economic Importance

The Nigerian government views BSWA as a strategic economic project with the potential to create thousands of jobs, generate significant foreign-exchange inflows, deliver sustained government revenues, and deepen Nigerian participation in offshore engineering and energy services. The president reaffirmed his administration's commitment to policy stability and regulatory certainty to restore investor confidence.

Shell's Broader Investment Plans

Beyond BSWA, Shell outlined other planned investments in Nigeria, including $5 billion for the Bonga North subsea project and $2 billion for the shallow water HI gas scheme. The company is also looking at other offshore gas projects and potential bids in Nigeria's latest licensing round. Sawan commended the professionalism of Nigeria's oil and gas officials, stating it gives Shell and its partners the confidence to invest long-term.

Next Steps

On the BSWA project, pre-front-end engineering and design work is set to start imminently, evolving into FEED with the goal of an FID in 2027, though Shell expressed a desire to fast-track the schedule as much as possible.