Nigeria, Feb. 28 -- The Nigerian government on Tuesday said international oil companies (IOCs) are not leaving the country but only shifting their portfolio and further investments to deep offshore.

Nigeria's Minister for State, Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, disclosed this at the opening ceremony of the 7th edition of the Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES 2024) held at the presidential banquet hall in Abuja on Tuesday.

"I want to use this opportunity to assure everyone that no IOC is leaving Nigeria. They are only going deep offshore," Mr Lokpobiri said.

The minister noted that the divestments by some international oil companies are a win-win situation as the IOCs are making further investments in the deep offs...