Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), in partnership with a consortium of nine domestic and international banking institutions, has established a $3 billion Contract Finance Facility. The dedicated lending window is structured to provide structured working capital to indigenous oilfield service providers executing deepwater and natural gas projects for the energy major. The credit facility, available in both Nigerian Naira ($₦$) and US Dollars ($$$), serves as a strategic implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act by ensuring maximum in-country financial value retention.
The multi-billion-dollar credit framework underpins a broader operational pivot in Shell’s Nigerian portfolio:
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De-Risking the Supply Chain Framework: SNEPCo Managing Director Ronald Adams explained that the facility mitigates upstream lending risks by matching banking capital with guaranteed oilfield contracts. SNEPCo de-risks the credit facility by domiciling project payments directly within the participating banks. This liquidity pipeline aims to resolve severe cash-flow delays for local engineering firms, such as the 43 wholly indigenous contractors that recently executed the turnaround maintenance for the Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel.
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Upstream Focus Shift to Deepwater Assets: The capitalization drive follows Shell’s complete exit from its Nigerian onshore subsidiary, SPDC, which was sold to a local consortium for $1.3 billion. Capital is now being heavily concentrated into high-yield deepwater terrains. Notably, Shell expanded its equity stake in the prolific Oil Mining Lease (OML) 118 to 65% after acquiring an additional 10% interest from TotalEnergies. This asset base includes the core Bonga field, which maintains an active production capacity of 225,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd).
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Midstream Gas Monetization Infrastructure: The credit window will also support contractors working on gas supply expansion projects. Following a Final Investment Decision (FID) to develop the HI offshore field, Shell is scaling infrastructure to deliver 350 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day to Nigeria LNG (NLNG). This feedstock increase supports the ongoing Train VII expansion at the Bonny Island terminal, aligning with Shell’s corporate goal to expand its global LNG volumes by 4% to 5% annually through 2030.
