The Federal Government has renewed its call on major engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) companies to return to Nigeria, assuring them that earlier concerns in the sector have been resolved through bold reforms and investor-friendly incentives.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, gave the assurance at the EPC Deepwater Investment Roundtable organised by the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) in London at the weekend, where he declared that Nigeria was ready for business under a transformed operating environment.
“When we say Nigeria is open for business, we’re not making a statement of intent; we’re pointing to the reforms we’ve implemented, the policies we’re enacting, and the partnerships we’re building. The landscape has changed, and this can be confirmed directly from the IOCs, who are already seeing the results,” the minister said in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Nneamaka Okafor, on Sunday, September 7.
He explained that many EPC firms had scaled down or left Nigeria in the past due to contracting inefficiencies, regulatory ambiguity, security challenges, and fiscal uncertainty, but stressed that those issues no longer existed. “Through the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), we have streamlined fiscal terms, strengthened regulatory clarity, and committed to project security in partnership with the Nigerian Navy and other security agencies,” he said.
Lokpobiri appealed to International Oil Companies (IOCs) and deepwater operators to continue making Final Investment Decisions (FIDs), noting that EPC firms would only return if there were active projects. “The EPCs will not return if there are no projects, and there can be no projects if operators are not investing. I want to thank those who are already taking advantage of the government’s efforts, but we must do more. The projects must flow for the EPCs to come back,” he stated.
The minister highlighted globally competitive incentives under the PIA for deepwater operations, including reduced royalty rates for deep offshore production ranging from five per cent to 7.5 per cent depending on water depth; removal of cost recovery limits, allowing companies to recover full development costs before profit sharing; tax credits and allowances for frontier exploration; contract sanctity and investor protection mechanisms to guarantee stability; and streamlined approvals with shorter contracting cycles currently under review.
He emphasised that these incentives were not designed for IOCs alone but would also extend to EPC contractors executing technically demanding projects.
