Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has launched a new set of fiscal incentives to rejuvenate Nigeria’s ailing oil and gas industry which aims to attract about $10 billion in investment between the next 12 months to 18 months.
According to the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Mrs Olu Verheijen, the presidential directives were developed and coordinated to ensure a competitive framework for the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
The consolidated guidelines for the fiscal incentives are based on extensive collaboration across the finance and petroleum ministries.
According to the statement, it involved several key regulatory bodies, including the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
Speaking at the event, Mrs Verheijen stated that the new measures had been designed to deliver a competitive Internal Rate of Return (IRR) for oil & gas projects and attract over $10 billion in new investments within the next 12-18 months.
She explained that they also underscore Nigeria’s commitment to reaching its long-term oil production target of 4 million barrels per day while enhancing the reliability of gas supply to boost export earnings and fuel Nigeria’s industrialisation.
Mrs Verheijen disclosed that among the guidelines signed were the NUPRC Guideline on Hydrocarbon Liquids Content in a Non-Associated Gas (NAG) Field, essential for accurately categorising and quantifying the hydrocarbon liquid content in the fields.
She said parts of the guidelines focused on the applicability of tax credits and allowances for Non-Associated Gas Greenfield Development and the Midstream Capital and Gas Utilisation Allowance, providing taxpayers with clarity on the computation of the benefits.
On his part, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, who presided over the signing ceremony at the Federal Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja, admitted that the sector had stagnated over the last decade.
He endorsed the consolidated guidelines for the implementation of fiscal incentives for the oil & gas sector – a cornerstone of the presidential directive aimed at enhancing the Nigerian oil & gas sector’s global competitiveness while stimulating economic growth.
Mr Edun thanked President Bola Tinubu for signing the directive in February 2024 to engender growth in the Nigerian oil and gas sector, which he said had stagnated for over the last 10 years.
“The idea is to create an atmosphere conducive to international competitiveness such that investment comes in. And in this case, we know it’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI),” he stated.
