Nigeria seeks $40bn in Oil Investment as output rises

Nigeria is seeking $40 billion to $50 billion in investment in oil projects as the OPEC producer said it raised crude output to as much as 1.9 million barrels a day as of two days ago.

The African producer signed a potential deal for $8.5 billion of investment with China North Industries Group Corp., Nigerian State Minister for Petroleum Resources Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said in a Bloomberg television interview in Beijing on Monday. The country’s crude output should rise to 2.2 million barrels a day next month if repairs to a pipeline are completed, he said.

“We’re looking to raise about $40 to $50 billion,” Kachikwu said in the Bloomberg interview. “Going to places like China, which have a huge capacity to put money in the oil sector, is very helpful.”Sign Up

Low oil prices, which have fallen by more than half in the past two years, are forcing some of the world’s largest drillers to seek investment to maintain and expand output. Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in April the government plans to list less than 5 percent of the state producer known as Saudi Aramco, which could turn the world’s biggest oil exporter into the largest publicly traded firm with a value in the trillions of dollars. Russia is seeking buyers for 19.5 percent of Rosneft PJSC.

Militant attacks earlier this year reduced Nigeria’s oil production to 1.3 million barrels from from 2.2 million a day, and output was between 1.8 million and 1.9 million as of two days ago, Kachikwu said. Crude prices may end the year between $50 and $55, he said.