Nigeria at 64 – Chevron Nigeria’s Partnership with Nigeria for socio-economic development
CHIGOZIE AMADI
As Nigeria celebrates her 64th independence anniversary, Chevron is proud of its
partnerships and role in developing its natural resources. In over six decades of operation,
Chevron Nigeria has continued to make significant investments in the country that support
social and economic development.
The Chairman and Managing Director of Chevron Nigeria and Mid-Africa Business Unit,
Jim Swartz, explains Chevron Nigeria's business perspective: “We strive to build lasting
relationships to help enable human progress now and into the future.”
According to Swartz, Chevron is one of the largest suppliers of natural gas to the domestic
market and is proud of its continued track record of supplying natural gas that meets the
specifications required for the Nigerian domestic market.
He stated that in addition to the production of over 7.5 billion barrels of oil and gas
equivalent by Chevron Nigeria Limited’s (CNL) Joint Venture with Nigeria National
Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in Nigeria, CNL has been successful in leading and
investing in four major projects that have added significant economic value and reduced
flared gas.
The projects include:
The Escravos Gas Processing facility to reduce flaring and enable the processing of
natural gas for delivery to the domestic and regional markets.
The Escravos Gas-to-Liquids facility to reduce gas flaring and produce high-quality
products, including diesel and Naphtha.
The ~700km West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) led by Chevron in partnership with
other private and state entities from the Economic Community of West African States, to
supply gas to Benin, Togo, and Ghana to boost economic development in the sub-region.
The Deepwater Agbami Floating Production, Storage, Offloading (FPSO) project which
has produced over 1 billion barrels of oil.
Chevron also owns nonproducing assets as well as partner with other companies for
producing and non-producing fields.
CNL commends the Federal Government’s efforts to reposition the oil and gas industry for
growth through the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). CNL is committed to operationalizing the
PIA and has achieved key milestones, including renewing critical deep-water leases for the
next twenty years. The NNPCL/CNL Joint Venture was among the first companies to
convert their leases to Petroleum Prospecting Licenses (PPLs) and Petroleum Mining Leases
(PMLs) in accordance with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act.
CNL believes that its business success in providing affordable, reliable, ever-cleaner energy
is directly tied to the progress and prosperity of the people we work with and the
communities where we operate. For this reason, the company continues to support the
Federal Government’s Nigerian Content Development (NCD) policy aimed at building
indigenous capacity in the nation’s oil and gas industry. This policy is driven by the vision of
being recognized as the energy company that works best to foster competence and
competitiveness among Nigerian indigenous contractors and suppliers by adopting the
participatory partnership model.
Olusoga Oduselu, CNL’s General Manager, Policy, Government, and Public Affairs,
highlighted CNL’s focus on the development of communities in the Niger Delta through the
Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU), a community-driven, participatory
partnership model for community engagement it pioneered in 2005.
“Through the GMoU, we provided funds to execute hundreds of projects in the communities
where we operate in the Niger Delta region. This has led to social investment projects
benefitting over 600 communities in the Niger Delta area. We are leveraging our experience
with the GMoU in the implementation of the Host Community Development Trust (HCDT)
provisions of the PIA”, he stated. “In 2010, Chevron established the Partnership Initiatives in
the Niger Delta (PIND), a non-profit organization working with partners to complement the
GMoU, to build peace and address macro socio-economic issues in the Niger Delta region.
PIND's programs have continued to create social and economic impacts through the twin
pillars of economic development and peacebuilding, leading to increased productivity, jobs,
and reduced conflict,” Olusoga said.
Chevron Nigeria’s social investment footprints extend beyond its areas of operation. In the
area of health, Chevron built and donated a DNA Molecular laboratory to the University of
Lagos Teaching Hospital, a facility that supports medical research in Nigeria. In the midst of
the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic, Chevron donated a Polymerase Chain Reaction
(PCR) laboratory to Warri Central Hospital to support the Delta State Government in the fight
against the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has also implemented health initiatives such
as the Roll Back Malaria programs, Prevention of Mother-to-Child transmission of
HIV/AIDS, and awareness programs on River blindness.
Star Deepwater Petroleum Company Limited (a Chevron company) and its parties in the
Agbami field have been investing in fighting tuberculosis (TB) by building and equipping
chest clinics to support the treatment and care of TB patients in Nigeria. Currently, 28 chest
clinics fully equipped with standard X-Ray machines, male and female wards, treatment
rooms, laboratories and gene xpert machines have been completed across the country to
support the health system. The Agbami parties have also donated one medical diagnostics
laboratory and nine mother-and-child health care centers in Nigeria.
Chevron Corporation has also sponsored global health-related initiatives that impact Nigeria.
These efforts include the contribution to the Global Fund against HIV/AIDS, malaria, and
TB, which has benefitted Nigeria by providing access to lifesaving antiretroviral therapy for
people living with HIV and providing long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets.
CNL continues to support the development of education in the Niger Delta region and across
the country through the development of education infrastructure, capacity building, and
scholarships. Over 23,000 people have benefitted from the company’s scholarship programs,
which include scholarships for postgraduates, the visually impaired, and medical and
engineering students in Nigeria.
Chevron and its Agbami parties have continued to invest in education infrastructure,
executing 39 Science laboratory complexes and 25 conventional and hybrid libraries
nationwide. They also encourage students to develop an interest in key subjects such as
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and, ultimately, pursue STEM
courses and careers.
CNL continues to demonstrate its commitment to environmental stewardship through its
lower carbon strategy, which is focused on lowering the carbon intensity of its operations by
implementing methane detection and reduction capabilities. This has enabled the company to
reduce routine gas flaring by over 97% in its operations in the past 11 years, showing its
environmental responsibility.
The company’s mangrove restoration program is another demonstration of its dedication to
environmental stewardship and proactive approach to addressing the challenges of ecosystem
restoration in the Niger Delta. Chevron Nigeria successfully restored approximately 18
hectares of land at different sites in its Western Area of operations, which suffered fire
incidents due to third-party interference. The mangrove restoration also enabled CNL to
impact the community positively by training community women on identifying viable
mangrove propagules, raising them in the nursery to transplant thousands of mangroves.”
Additionally, Chevron Nigeria, with Chevron Corporation's support, built and donated the
Lekki Conservation Centre (LCC) to the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) in 1992.
The 78-hectare facility has become a center of excellence in environmental research and
education, reserved as a sanctuary for the rich flora and fauna of the Lekki Peninsula, Lagos.
Chevron is optimistic about the future of the energy business in Nigeria. As the Chairman and
Managing Director emphasized, “Chevron remains committed to our partnership in ensuring
safe, reliable, and efficient operations in Nigeria’s onshore, offshore shallow water, and
offshore deep water while delivering a reliable and ever-cleaner energy supply for Nigeria,
the West African region, and the world.”
