Nigeria has approved a $10.3 billion investment plan by Italian energy giant Eni to develop the long-stalled Zabazaba and Etan deepwater oil fields, in what stands as one of the country’s largest upstream investment approvals in recent memory. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) confirmed the greenlight, ending nearly three decades of legal paralysis over the block formerly known as OPL 245.
The development plan centres on the installation of a floating production, storage and offloading vessel supported by subsea infrastructure to unlock reserves estimated at up to 560 million barrels of oil equivalent from the combined fields. Peak production is projected at around 150,000 barrels per day, with first oil targeted for approximately 2029.
OPL 245, located in the deepwater Niger Delta and widely regarded as one of West Africa’s largest undeveloped discoveries — estimated to hold up to 9 billion barrels of oil equivalent — had remained largely dormant since the late 1990s due to legal battles waged across multiple jurisdictions. The impasse was broken after Nigeria restructured the licence into four petroleum mining and prospecting leases involving both Eni and Shell, clearing the path for development to resume.
The approval slots neatly into Nigeria’s broader strategy to lift crude output toward 1.8 million barrels per day in the near term and as high as 3 million barrels per day by 2030. Government officials said the decision is also intended to signal a welcoming environment to international oil companies eyeing upcoming licensing rounds. With regulatory clearance secured, attention now turns to financing arrangements, contractor selection, and the execution timeline for what promises to be a watershed project for Nigeria’s offshore sector.
Source: angolanminingoilandgas.com