Nigeria Has Scope for $400 Billion Energy Spending, Shell Says

Nigeria has the scope for at least $400 billion of spending in the oil, gas and power industries provided the environment for investment improves, said Bernard Bos, Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s (RDSA) vice president for finance and strategy in sub-Saharan Africa.

The lack of attractive terms for investment means money that should have come to Nigeria is going to other African countries and Australia, Bos said at an investment conference today in Lagos, the commercial capital.

“Many in the industry are worried about what the petroleum industry bill will do,” he said, referring to legislation to reform the regulation and funding of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. “We need to try and unleash that investment.”

Nigeria is Africa’s top oil producer and has the world’s seventh-largest natural gas-reserves of more than 184 trillion cubic feet, according to the Petroleum Ministry. Shell is the biggest oil and gas operator in Nigeria, providing 40 percent of gas used by power stations and generating 20 percent of the country’s electricity, according to Bos.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dulue Mbachu in Abuja at dmbachu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net