Shell to spend $3.9 billion in Nigeria

Shell to spend $3.9 billion on Nigerian projects including strengthening sabotaged pipeline

AMSTERDAM (AP) -- Royal Dutch Shell PLC says it will spend $3.9 billion on investments in Nigeria, including an effort to strengthen the Trans-Niger Pipeline that was shut down this week after it was damaged in a theft attack.

In a statement Friday, the company said it plans to spend $1.5 billion on the pipeline, which carries 150,000 barrels of crude per day and is located in the eastern Niger Delta. Shell operates in Nigeria via a joint venture that is majority-owned by the country's state oil company.

Shell said it will also spend $2.4 billion on a series of five gas supply and infrastructure projects. The company estimates that they will have an expected peak production that will be the equivalent of 215,000 barrels of oil per day.