Nigeria Seeks $50bn Chinese Investment As Oil Production Rises

Crude-Oil-Barrels-OPECThe Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, on Monday said Nigeria is seeking to raise between $40 billion and $50 billion from Chinese investors to fund key oil and gas projects in the country.

This is just as he said Nigeria’s crude oil production, which took a massive hit in recent weeks as a result of activities of militants in the Niger Delta, has risen to 1.9m barrels a day (b/d) and should rise to as much as 2.2m b/d by end of July if pipeline repairs are completed.

Kachikwu made these disclosures in a Bloomberg television interview in Beijing, China.

The minister acknowledged that an ongoing cease-fire with the militant groups has contributed in no small measure to the increase in crude oil production, as repair works on some pipelines has brought back some production volumes.

Mr. Kachikwu, who is in China to lead an NNPC-China Investors’ Roadshow 2016, said Nigeria was seeking as much as $50bn in investment for oil projects as it signed a potential deal worth $8.5 billion with China North industries Group Corp.

“Going to places like China, which have a huge capacity to put money in the oil sector, is very helpful”, he said.

The roadshow is a follow up to President Muhammadu Buhari’s state visit to China in April.