Nigeria serves as a hub for oil and gas exploration,
production and services in the West African Gulf of Guinea
region. The establishment of the Joint Development Authority
(JDA) to manage oil and gas resources in the joint
development zone between Nigeria and Sao Tome and
Principe offers tremendous investment opportunities. Since
the first deep-water oil bid rounds in 2000, Nigeria has
regularly and successfully offered for sale oil acreages in both
Nigeria and in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ), which offer
investors abundant investment opportunities. Within the
upstream and downstream segments, opportunities abound
in different sub-sectors related to core exploration and
production, such as: exploration and production, drilling and
manufacturing equipment, support services, marketing,
construction, engineering and consulting services,
transportation and storage of crude oil, insurance, legal
services, facilities maintenance, and environmental
management.

Nigeria has recoverable gas reserves estimated
at between 124 -187 trillion standard cubic feet (Tcf) and
additional undiscovered natural gas potential conservatively
estimated at about 45-100 Tcf. Nigeria is a “gas surplus”
country with gas life expectancy projected to last 109 years.
At present, about 75% of associated gas produced as a
consequence of oil production activities is flared.

The Nigerian market offers significant opportunities for U.S.
firms with a keen interest in expanding their operations
internationally, and the oil and gas industry remains one of
Nigeria’s most lucrative and viable investment opportunities.
Business observers believe that the oil and gas sector offers
consistent opportunities for marketing essential capital
equipment and technology, for both extraction and
production. Drilling equipment appears to hold the most
promise for U.S. exporters.
The Nigeria’s oilfield supplies and services is continually expanding as the country’s oil and gas
industry expands into new terrain, including the deep
offshore. The government of Nigeria annually budgets an
average of about $12 billion for the oil and gas industry,
which offers tremendous potential for investment to local and
international operators. The oil and gas industry remains one
of Nigeria’s most lucrative and viable investment
opportunities, with oil and gas machinery and services a key
market because of its unrivaled potential as a source of
investment opportunities
Best Prospects/Services
Oil and gas machinery is number one due to its unrivaled
potential as a source of investment opportunities for
businesses in Nigeria. Business observers believe that the oil
and gas sector offers consistent opportunities for marketing
essential capital equipment and technology, for both
extraction and production. Drilling equipment appears to
hold the most promise for exporters, with total sales in this
sub-sector projected to exceed $500 million in 2008 and to
increase over the next four years. This is mainly due to
production activity in the offshore deep-sea region, which
accounts for about 27% of total daily production and is
estimated to peak by 2018. The lubricant segment of the oil
sector remains most lucrative, as there is yet no price control.
Training services is another area where service companies
have comparative advantage especially in exploration and
production, engineering and seismic techniques.