ABUJA, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Nigeria has agreed with foreign companies a joint investment of $15.2 billion in oil ventures this year and is seeking debt finance to foot part of its share of the bill, a top official said on Monday.

The five joint ventures that pump the bulk of Nigeria's crude oil have suffered from decades of underinvestment due to government budget constraints, causing output to stall or even decline despite huge reserves in the ground.

The government has a long-standing target of reaching 4 million barrels per day by 2010, but output has stagnated at around 2 million for the past few years.

"(Our target) implicates a significant investment in the upstream which is not happening now," Minister of State for Petroleum Odein Ajumogobia said at a press briefing.

The eight-month-old government of President Umaru Yar'Adua aims to address the issue with a thorough reform of state-run Nigeria National Petroleum Corp. which should allow it to raise international capital at highly competitive interest rates.

http://www.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUSL2823314520080128

I just wonder what the return on investment would be.