President Tinubu touts move to secure ExxonMobil collaboration, to reverse IoCs divestment through attractive fiscal regime

Oredola Adeola

In line with his commitment to strike major oil and gas deals at the early stages of his administration and boost Nigeria’s hydrocarbon, President Bola Tinubu has pledged to secure robust collaboration with Exxon Mobil and other oil majors.

He reaffirmed this on Thursday when he played host to Mr. Liam Mallon, President of ExxonMobil Upstream Company, and Mrs. Adesua Dozie, Executive Director and General Counsel, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, (MPNU), in Abuja.

Tinubu in his verified Twitter handle, said that the meeting marked the continuation of this administration’s efforts to secure the collaboration of critical players in the oil industry towards ensuring stability, transparency, and fair competition in the sector.

Recall that President Tinubu in a dialogue with directors of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and other business leaders, during his presidential campaign in Lagos, revealed that the ExxonMobil has no business going to go to Guyana for gas production when it already has sufficient capacity in Nigeria.

According to Tinubu, to catch the rabbit you have to give bait, a metaphor he used for giving favourable taxes and other incentives.

In his word of encouragement to the leadership of the American multinational oil and gas corporation, Tinubu said, instead of having to dig the ground and build a city, in Guyana, “You (ExxonMobil) have some infrastructure to some extent here in Nigeria, why not negotiate with the Nigerian Government, give us some of the full benefit areas, that Nigeria wants.

“I would rather have 40 percent and you take 60 percent if, in the long run, they would provide the necessary incentive and the revenue that I need for accelerated growth and recovery. Let’s take it, if you want to make an omelette you have to break the eggs,” Tinubu stated during his campaign.

He also at the NESG dialogue said, ” We shall work in a coordinated manner to implement key reforms in the energy sector and collaborate to stem oil theft and vandalization of fuel infrastructure to tap the current high oil prices,”

The Nigerian President has never minced words in the commitment of his administration to reverse some of the divestment by all the oil majors in the country with the incentive of offering attractive fiscal regimes to stimulate and reposition the country’s economy.