The Managing Director, Total Exploration and Production, Nigeria Limited, Mr. Nicolas Terraz on Thursday said the company has made over $10bn investments in the country in the last five years.
Terraz said this at the 34th Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists Annual Conference Management Session -1, in Lagos.
The conference has as its theme “Upstream Business Environment in a Recession Economy – Nigerian Example”.
The CEO said that the company had added over 2.3 billion barrels of crude to Nigeria’s production from 1966 to 2015.
He said, “In the last five years alone, we have made approximately $10bn of investments in Nigeria .
“Through decades of executing development projects, Total’s activities have contributed to creating jobs and developing human capacity in Nigeria.
“Despite the challenging operating environment, Total remains strongly committed to the developments of its activities in the country, while working relentlessly to adapt to the current environment.
“In September 2015, we achieved first oil from the Ofon Phase 2 Development Project, which will increase production capacity from the Ofon field by 60,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
“Development drilling is currently on-going to reach the production plateau. Beyond the incremental production, this project also eliminated routine flaring in Ofon field and allowed monetisation of the gas from Ofon.
“This was recognised by the World Bank – sponsored Global Gas Flaring Reduction Partnership, which gave an Excellence Award to our Ofon-2 Project on 9th September 2015, for this achievement.”
He said that the environment required them to adapt and reduce cost without compromising safety while preparing for a future of growth or expansion.
According to him, the impact of the low oil price is not peculiar to Nigeria alone; the country is particularly affected because a large part of its revenue comes from the hydrocarbon sector.
Terraz said that in addition to low oil price, Nigeria had also experienced a reduction in production volumes due to security issues.
He said, “The current context is challenging for both the country and the industry.
“The Government is facing revenue shortages. Oil and gas companies, on their part, have to adapt to the present realities.
“This context, combined with funding challenges for the joint ventures, has resulted in the deferral of investments and a significant reduction in development drilling.
“This situation has also resulted in the loss of activity and jobs for contractors providing services to the industry.”