Nigeria’s energy shift should show advancement truths– FG

Nigeria’s energy shift should show advancement truths– FG

Benjamin Umuteme

The Federal Government has actually stated Nigeria’s energy shift need to show its advancement truths, placing natural gas as a shift fuel and industrialisation chauffeur rather than generally an export product.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, stated this on Thursday in Abuja at the 2026 yearly conference of the Association of Energy Correspondents, Abuja, themed “Sustaining Oil and Gas Investment in Nigeria Amid Energy Transition.”

Ekpo stated the federal government supports the worldwide shift to cleaner energy, however millions of Nigerians still require reputable electrical energy and tidy cooking fuels, while markets require economical, trustworthy energy.

He stated: “It is essential to stress that Nigeria’s energy shift need to show our advancement truths. We support the international motion towards cleaner and more sustainable energy systems, however our shift needs to likewise deal with our instant energy requirements. Millions of Nigerians still need dependable electrical energy and gain access to cleaner cooking fuels, while our markets need economical and reliable energy. Natural gas for that reason has an essential function to play as a shift fuel and as an enabler of industrialisation,” he stated.

He stated the Decade of Gas Initiative is driving a shift from dealing with gas primarily as an export product to utilizing it locally for power, production, fertiliser, petrochemicals and transport.

He pointed out the AKK and OB3 gas pipelines, gas processing, LNG and other midstream jobs as vital to linking gas to markets. He included that the federal government is promoting LPG and CNG to broaden gain access to cleaner, less expensive energy.

On financial investment, Ekpo pointed to the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 and continuous reforms as efforts to offer financiers clearness, however yielded that “legislation alone is not enough.” Financiers, he stated, require self-confidence that policies will be regularly executed and jobs performed successfully.

He noted facilities restraints, security, functional inadequacies, contracting timelines and regulative traffic jams as problems harming job economics. Operators, he included, need to likewise invest properly and support security and ecological requirements.

“At the very same time, sustaining financial investment in the petroleum sector will need higher effectiveness throughout the market. We should continue to attend to problems that impact task economics, consisting of facilities restrictions, security, functional ineffectiveness, contracting timelines and regulative traffic jams.

“Government has a duty to produce the allowing environment, while operators need to continue to invest properly, enhance effectiveness and maintain the greatest requirements of security and ecological efficiency,” he stated.

The minister advised energy reporters to offer the public precise context and well balanced analysis, stating the media can assist construct financier self-confidence by highlighting chances while constructively questioning policies and jobs.

He stated the federal government’s goal is a competitive, investment-friendly petroleum market that keeps oil and gas contributing to nationwide advancement as the energy mix is gradually diversified.

NUPRC prompts operators to provide capital, production

In her goodwill message, Commission Chief Executive Engr. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) stated that Nigeria is actively enhancing its upstream financial investment environment, moving focus from resource schedule to transforming chances into dedicated capital and real production.

Eyesan, who was represented by Director, Sub-Surface Development, Joseph Ogunsola, described the regulator’s tactical roadmap to enhance output and safe and secure Nigeria’s energy future.

The CCE stressed that Nigeria does not suffer from a absence of oil and gas resources.

She stated: “Our position: Nigeria does not have a lack of resource chances. The problem is transforming that chance into dedicated capital, producing properties, and financial worth. Our task is to make sure a great Nigerian job is not made uncompetitive by preventable regulative or running friction.”

The NUPRC CCE highlighted current functional successes, keeping in mind that unrefined oil and condensate production just recently balanced 1.75 million barrels per day, satisfying the nation’s OPEC quota for the 4th successive month. She verified that production development relies on securing base possessions through brownfield interventions and debottlenecking, keeping in mind, “Production development is developed initially by safeguarding the base, and then by including the next barrels.”

To speed up job execution, Eyesan pointed to ExxonMobil’s $1 billion Usan infill dedication– anticipated to yield 40,000 barrels per day as a essential turning point.

“An authorized task is a strong start. The genuine result is when capital is devoted and production follows,” she included.

Eyesan likewise restated the Commission’s focus on decarbonisation, lower-emissions tasks like the TotalEnergies/AMNI Ima gas advancement, and stringent emissions measurement, worrying: “We can make the course clearer, however market still has to stroll it and the procedure is shipment.”

AECAF desires policy stability

In his welcome address, Chairman Association of Energy Correspondents Abuja FCT (AECAF), Mr John Ofikhenua, called for constant policy application, enhanced security and stringent adherence to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to sustain financial investment in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector amidst the international energy shift.

Mr Ofikhenua stated financial investment in hydrocarbons had consistently suffered problems from worldwide occasions, hostile company choices and moving energy policies.

The AECAF Chairman mentioned that the style was developed to stimulate conversation on maintaining and restoring financier self-confidence in Nigeria’s fossil-fuel market, regardless of the push towards greener energy sources.

“Investment is frequently the casualty of unfavorable policies embraced by business and federal governments,” he stated, remembering the effect of the United States shale-oil boom, the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy-transition project on oil-sector financing.

He kept in mind, nevertheless, that current worldwide advancements had actually strengthened the tactical importance of hydrocarbons, triggering a shift in focus from an straight-out energy shift to an energy mix.

“Today, the story is altering in favour of financial investment in the country’s hydrocarbon market,” Ofikhenua stated.

He pointed out financier interest in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals’ Initial Public Offering, as well as involvement in the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s oil and gas field quote rounds, as indicators of restored self-confidence.

The chairman stated Nigeria needs to protect the gains of the PIA, reinforce security, especially in the Niger Delta, and end policy turnarounds to draw in fresh capital.

“Nigeria can just sustain financiers’ self-confidence with sustaining and steady policies,” he stated.