• Lokpobiri says two non-binding MoUs sealed with overseas investor teams
•Calls for extra exploration campaigns to uncover extra barrels
Peter Uzoho
The federal authorities has secured commitments from overseas investor teams to mobilise $21 billion in contemporary capital for Nigeria’s oil and gasoline sector, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has disclosed.
The Minister stated the commitments adopted his current engagements in Abu Dhabi, on the just-concluded ADIPEC convention, the place international buyers confirmed renewed curiosity in Nigeria as a diversification vacation spot amid geopolitical dangers in the Gulf area.
Lokpobiri acknowledged this yesterday in Lagos, on the opening of the forty fourth annual worldwide convention of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), with the theme, “Unlocking More Barrels, Driving Reserve Growth through Exploration, Local Capabilities and Adaptive Technologies.”
Lokpobiri stated the federal government was linking the overseas teams to Nigerian firms to talk about industrial particulars, as a part of efforts to mobilise capital for improvement at a time Western lenders are proscribing funding to Africa.
He stated: “I can guarantee you that we had one or two non-binding MOUs with teams. One group is keen to mobilise $15 billion to make investments in Nigeria. And their argument is that we all know that in phrases of spare capability, it’s extra in the Gulf area. But with what has occurred in the Strait of Hormuz, it’s important for firms which have cash to diversify their investments in phrases of places.
“Some of them are willing to come to Nigeria and invest. So, if there is any disruption in one location, the investment in Nigeria will continue to sustain your cash flow. There’s another group that is committing $6 billion. And so, what I’m doing is linking those companies, those groups to companies in Nigeria.”
The Minister stated he was deepening collaboration between the overseas teams and native operators, noting that some chief executives on the convention had been already in dialogue with him.
He stated he was not in the commercials, however in bringing the events collectively to negotiate particulars.
Lokpobiri stated the push for brand new capital was mandatory as a result of the West has weaponised entry to capital towards the Global South, notably Africa.
That, he stated, led to the creation of the African Energy Bank.
He recalled that on October 31, 2026, the President of Afreximbank and the President of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO) got here to Nigeria for the formal launch of the financial institution.
According to him, the financial institution’s annual basic assembly had been held, situations precedent met, and a president and board appointed, including that it set to formally take off on January 4, 2027 in Abuja.
The Minister stated discussions with the incoming investor teams additionally embody how to place the African Energy Bank to elevate funding for the business.
Lokpobiri reviewed the progress made since his appointment in August 2023, when he stated the business was in coma state and oil manufacturing was about a million barrels per day, inclusive of condensates.
“When I was appointed minister in August 2023, the industry was in comatose. Our production was about a million barrels, inclusive of condensates. And now NUPRC is here, I think the records as of today show that we are doing over 1.8 million barrels per day,” he stated.
He stated the mandate given by President Bola Tinubu was to construct a much bigger pie that the federation can profit from.
He stated oil manufacturing has grown by over 80 p.c because the authorities got here in, although Nigeria just isn’t but the place it needs to be.
Active rigs, he stated, have risen from about 10 to over 60, with steady drilling campaigns by totally different operators.
The Minister dismissed the worth of reserves on paper, citing Venezuela which has over 300 billion barrels of reserves however stays one of many poorest international locations in the world.
He described Nigeria’s 37 billion barrels oil reserves and 215 trillion cubic toes of gasoline deposit as tutorial except they had been unlocked and brought to market.
He stated the modest efforts of the federal government have strengthened the financial system, citing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) information displaying overseas reserves of about $56 billion, 85 p.c of which got here from oil and gasoline.
Lokpobiri warned that Nigeria faces a possible manpower disaster if it fails to rebuild coaching pipelines for geoscientists and petroleum engineers.
He recalled an incubation centre in Warri, Delta State, the place younger graduates gained actual business abilities, which has since been shut down.
He backed NAPE’s plan to set up an academy, urging the business to assist it and to prolong assist to universities, the place many lecturers lack sensible expertise.
“So, NAPE came to my office a few weeks ago and said they are nursing an idea of a NAPE academy. The details could be worked out. My own is that the industry needs to support NAPE. That idea needs to be supported,” Lokpobiri stated.
He referred to as for extra frontier exploration in the Anambra Basin, Benue Trough, Dahomey Basin and different basins past the Niger Delta, noting that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) gives a fund for frontier exploration.
He stated if Nigeria explores aggressively, reserves may greater than double, with an extra 18 billion barrels probably in deepwater but to be licensed.
The Minister stated the worldwide vitality panorama was being redesigned and Nigeria had been strategically positioned in the brand new map, including that the federal government awaits suggestions from consultants on the convention.
