Total plc, the French oil giant, will soon invest $7 billion to expand its deep off-shore exploration for oil and gas in Nigeria, according to the French ambassador to Nigeria, Jean-Michel Dumond.
And to ensure that the oil industry is no longer subjected to the violent restiveness, he said the Federal Government’s amnesty programme for Niger Delta militants should be implemented with a long-term perspective.
Dumond said at a Forum of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja that a long-term approach would enable the government to achieve better results in the development of the region. He said France is willing to support the Federal Government’s efforts to develop the region.
“We have said that we praise the progress made with the amnesty process. “We are willing, in consultation with our partners, mainly from the EU but also with other big countries, to work with the Nigerian authorities in order to ensure the best possible development of the Niger Delta,” he added. The French ambassador said the investment plan, which would be in partnership with Nigerians, would “represent an investment worth $20 million in the coming years”, according to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Dumond said 120 French companies were currently in Nigeria, noting that although France was the second largest foreign investor in Nigeria, its investments were mostly in the oil and gas sector. He said another French company investing in Nigeria’s economy was a cement plant which planned to produce nine million tonnes of cement, well above the six million tonnes it produces in France.
“I think the French enterprises are ready to invest in Nigeria and to meet the requirement of the Nigerian government to cooperate in all fields and sectors,” he said. Dumond said that trade between Nigeria and France topped 3.2 billion euros in 2009.
“We imported items worth 1.9 billion euros, mainly crude oil, and we exported goods worth 1.3 billion euros into Nigeria in different sectors,” he said. The envoy said the volume of trade between the two countries had improved over the years, adding that the yearly increase in the level of export was more than 20 percent.
“There has been of course a decrease in the export from Nigeria to France, which is related very clearly to the decrease in the production of oil linked to the crisis in the Niger Delta region and the fall in the price of oil in 2009,” he said.