A group of International Oil Companies operating in Nigeria, TotalEnergies, Shell and Chevron, have assured Nigerians of their continued investment in the mineral resources sector in Africa.

The company’s pledge gave the assurance at the ongoing 8th Sub-Saharan International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, SAIPEC 2024, on Tuesday in Lagos.

The companies re-emphasised their belief in developing the continent’s endowed resources to benefit its economy.

They also highlighted their massive investment to enhance the socio-economic development of the continent where they operate.

Mathieu Bouyer, managing director and chief executive, TotalEnergies Upstream Companies in Nigeria, while enumerating its strategies to develop the available resources in the African continent, Nigeria inclusive, promised to remain in the continent for a long time to come.

According to Bouyer, one of the peculiarities of the company’s energy operation in Africa is that it is integrated.

“All our businesses are deployed to Africa as a continent; we are in Upstream, Downstream, Midstream, Solar Energy, and renewable energies in some of the countries. Historically, the presence of the company was more upstream in the Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria, of course, Angola, and Congo.

“However, we now see more and more new projects developed in the East African side. These include places such as Mozambique and South Africa as well, and we keep exploring the resources with large discovery in Namibia,” he said.

He added that their strategy was to remain integrated with the optimism that having a large and strong network of service stations and giving access to people and resources that have been mentioned before is important to get connected to the people.

Elohor Aiboni, managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO), said, “As for us in Shell businesses across Africa, the company will continue to explore new territories. You may have heard that we are also in Namibia, exploring; we have other countries where we are working. 

“We have got downstream businesses in some countries across Africa. If we bring you back home to Nigeria, Shell in Nigeria is all about growing our gas and deepwater businesses. These are our focus in the near term, short term, medium term, and long term.”

Michelle Pflueger, director at Chevron Nigeria Ltd., acknowledged Africa as a continent with vast resources in terms of both human and mineral reserves, which has enabled Chevron to have potential for future growth and innovation.

She said Chevron, as an international oil company, was poised to go into mutual partnership with African countries to develop those resources for the benefit of all.

(NAN)