Total Snubs Nigeria; Invests $600M In Congo

French oil major, TotalEnergies, has announced a $600 million investment deal in the Republic of Congo few days after the CEO said the company chose Angola over Nigeria for a $6 billion energy project.

Recall earlier this week, Nairametrics reported TotalEnergies’ CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, stating that the company chose to invest $6 billion in Angola over Nigeria due to policy inconsistencies and other issues in the country.

Following this, the company also announced a $600 million investment in Congo for oil production and exploration, once again overlooking Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer.

According to the press statement on Thursday, the investment will be used to finance exploration and maintain production in the country’s deep offshore Moho Nord field.

“The $600 million investment signals a strong intent by the IOC to develop and monetize Congolese hydrocarbons for the benefit of the country and will unlock a wave of economic opportunities for the broader region.

“Two drilling rigs arrived at the permit this month, with TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné expressing his optimism that the field will yield a discovery before the end of the year,” the statement reads in part.

More Insights
According to the statement, in April this year, TotalEnergies, through its subsidiary TotalEnergies EP Congo, signed an agreement to purchase a 10% stake in the Moho permit from Trident Energy.

Furthermore, the African Energy Chamber (AEC) reported that upon completion of this transaction, TotalEnergies will hold a 63.5% operating stake in the permit.

Trident Energy will maintain a 21.5% share, and the Republic of Congo’s national oil company, Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo (SNPC), will have a 15% stake.

“The $600 million investment by TotalEnergies shows that the IOC is in the Republic of Congo to stay. Congo’s oil and gas can play a much greater role in alleviating energy poverty and driving industrialization in Africa, and partnerships with companies to the likes of TotalEnergies will be instrumental in achieving these objectives.

“We look forward to witnessing new discoveries being made in the coming months,” stated NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the AEC.

Backstory
Earlier on Monday, Nairametrics reported that the CEO of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanne, explained why the company is investing a whooping sum of $6 billion in energy projects in Angola over Nigeria.

Pouyanne, who spoke with panellists of the Africa CEO in Kigali, Rwanda, said the inconsistency in policymaking decisions led to the diversion of the project from Nigeria to Angola, a country with a more stable policy framework.
He added that TotalEnergies has not conducted oil exploration in Nigeria for 12 years.

“Nigeria loves to open topics without closing them. You love to debate. There is always a new legislature in Nigeria about a new petroleum law. When you have such permanent debates, it’s difficult for investors looking for long-term structure to know what direction to go.

“In reality, the Niger Delta is the most prolific part of West Africa. But if you look at what happened, because of these debates, there has not been a single exploration in Nigeria for 12 years.

“It’s important to have a debate and then settle it and put a framework on the table that investors can trust.

“We have countries that have perfectly integrated policies like Angola. So, we go to Angola and announced a very large $6 billion projects in the beginning of the week because there their framework is stable. So we know where we go,” Pouyanne said.

Source:- Nairametrics