Sylva woos Turkey to invest in Nigeria’s onshore, natural gas sector

Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources, says Nigeria is open to onshore and natural gas investments.

According to NAN, Sylva said this during a bilateral meeting with Alpersen Bayraktar, Turkish deputy minister of energy and natural resources, on the sidelines of the ongoing CERAWeek in Houston, Texas.

The minister said Nigeria was receptive to more Turkish investments in the hydrocarbon sector, especially with the planned divestments of some international oil companies (IOC) from the onshore sectors in the country.

“We are looking at the possibilities of Turkey taking interest in more investments in Nigeria,” Sylva was quoted as saying.

“Now that IOCs like Shell, Exxon Mobil, and others are planning to divest from onshore assets, more investments in that sector would be a great opportunity for Turkey to expand its investments’ interest in Nigeria.”

Describing the cooperation between Nigeria and Turkey as “significant”, Sylva said the relationship could be extended in energy and other areas of trade.

The minister said that with the new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), Nigeria had further streamlined its laws in the oil and gas investment environment.

He said the country was making investments in the sector of the economy more attractive to potential investors.

Sylva called on Bayraktar to encourage Turkish investors to come to Nigeria to participate in the new opportunities offered by the exit of the IOCs to consolidate the bilateral relations between both countries.

He assured the deputy minister of a good return on investments in Nigeria.

He stated that despite plans by the IOCs to divest from onshore assets, the companies were ramping up investments in offshore assets in the country.

This, he said, was a sign that the Nigeria investment environment was still the desired investment destination in Africa.

Sylva said Nigeria was also open to Turkish investors taking up investments in greenfield assets, adding that the country was prepared to engage in discussions on a government-to-government basis to achieve the desired results.

On his part, Bayraktar sought the support of Sylva to get Turkey to be part of the Nigerian upstream oil and gas sector.

He said Turkey was ready to shore up investments in natural gas in Nigeria if given the opportunity.