Business
Total’s $3.3bn Egina FPSO Arrives Nigeria, ’Morrow
Nigeria’s oil and gas industry is set to record another milestone as the 3.3 billion dollar Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel for the 200,000 barrels per day capacity Egina deepwater oilfield arrives Nigeria from South Korea tomorrow.
Speaking at the Samsung’s fabrication and integration yard located at LADOL Free Zone in Lagos on Friday, the Chief Financial Officer of SHI-MCI, Mr Jin Su Park said the FPSO would arrive Nigeria by 7a.m tomorrow.
The Tide source reports that the FPSO, which was built by Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), sailed away from the quay side at Samsung Yard in Geoje, South Korea, on October 31, 2017, on its long anticipated journey to Nigeria, which was initially estimated to last for 90 days
.It was gathered that when it arrives at the Samsung Yard (SHI-MCI FZE quayside) in Lagos tomorrow, the FPSO, which is currently offshore Angola, will be integrated locally before it sails away to the deep offshore oil field.
Located at the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 130 offshore, the Egina oilfield, which will add 200,000 barrels per day of crude oil to Nigeria’s daily production when it comes on stream by the end of 2018, is being developed by Total Upstream Nigeria Limited (TUPNL) at the cost of 16 billion dollars.
Out of the 16 billion dollars capital expenditure (Capex) for the six packages in the oilfield development, 3.3 billion dollars of this amount is earmarked for building the FPSO.
Park said that despite the numerous challenges that confronted SHI in the construction of the yard, the South Korean firm had successfully completed the yard, which is the first FPSO fabrication and integration yard in Africa.
According to him, Samsung Heavy Industries invested 300 million dollars in the yard and achieved 777 days without Loss Time Injury (LTI) on January19.
Park said that Samsung Heavy Industries owns 70 per cent stake in a joint venture with LADOL, which owns 30 per cent stake.
He said that out of the 18 modules in the Egina FPSO, six modules were fabricated in the SHI-MCI yard, which represents 30 per cent of the entire FPSO.
“The FPSO will arrive by 7a.m on January 23. The SHI-MCI was founded in July 2014 and groundbreaking was performed in August 2014. The steel cutting for the Egina FPSO started in June 2015.”
Business
Agency Gives Insight Into Its Inspection, Monitoring Operations
Business
BVN Enrolments Rise 6% To 67.8m In 2025 — NIBSS
The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has said that Bank Verification Number (BVN) enrolments rose by 6.8 per cent year-on-year to 67.8 million as at December 2025, up from 63.5 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
In a statement published on its website, NIBSS attributed the growth to stronger policy enforcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the expansion of diaspora enrolment initiatives.
NIBSS noted that the expansion reinforces the BVN system’s central role in Nigeria’s financial inclusion drive and digital identity framework.
Another major driver, the statement said, was the rollout of the Non-Resident Bank Verification Number (NRBVN) initiative, which allows Nigerians in the diaspora to obtain a BVN remotely without physical presence in the country.
A five-year analysis by NIBSS showed consistent growth in BVN enrolments, rising from 51.9 million in 2021 to 56.0 million in 2022, 60.1 million in 2023, 63.5 million in 2024 and 67.8 million by December 2025. The steady increase reflects stronger compliance with biometric identity requirements and improved coverage of the national banking identity system.
However, NIBSS noted that BVN enrolments still lag the total number of active bank accounts, which exceeded 320 million as of March 2025.
The gap, it explained, is largely due to multiple bank accounts linked to single BVNs, as well as customers yet to complete enrolment, despite the progress recorded.
