Favour Ishember, Abuja
The Federal Government and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) have urged energy reporters to move beyond reporting policy pronouncements and focus more on monitoring how approved investments translate into actual oil and gas production.
The call came as the country’s crude oil output remained above its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota for four consecutive months, with authorities insisting that project execution remains critical to achieving Nigeria’s production ambitions.
Speaking on Thursday at the 2026 Annual Conference of the Association of Energy Correspondents Abuja (AECAF), themed: “Sustaining Oil and Gas Investment in Nigeria Amid Energy Transition,” Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said the government’s major task was to convince investors that reforms would be consistently implemented beyond legislation.
Represented by his Senior Technical Adviser, Abel Nsa, Ekpo said the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 had provided a strong foundation for sector transformation but warned that laws alone could not deliver results without effective implementation and timely completion of projects.
He highlighted the government’s Decade of Gas Initiative as a major strategy for repositioning Nigeria’s gas sector, noting that infrastructure projects such as the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) and Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) pipelines were crucial to moving the country away from an export-focused gas model towards greater domestic utilisation.
According to him, expanding gas use in electricity generation, manufacturing, fertiliser production and transportation would be essential to unlocking the economic value of Nigeria’s vast gas resources.
Ekpo also charged energy correspondents to strengthen investor confidence by reporting the sector with accuracy, professionalism and a clear understanding of both the opportunities and challenges confronting the industry.
Meanwhile, the NUPRC disclosed that Nigeria recorded an average production of about 1.68 million barrels per day of crude oil and condensate in August 2026, marking the fourth consecutive month the country achieved its OPEC production target.
The NUPRC Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, represented by the Commission’s Director of Subsurface Development, Joseph Ogunshola, said the recent production performance provides a stronger platform for Nigeria to pursue its target of increasing output to two million barrels per day in the near term and three million barrels per day by 2030.
“These peaks are encouraging and give us a stronger base from which to pursue the national production aspirations of 2 million barrels per day in the near term and 3 million barrels per day by 2030,” Eyesan said.
She disclosed that the Commission had approved Field Development Plans valued at more than $57 billion since 2024, while 22 offshore projects scheduled between 2026 and 2030 are expected to attract additional investments estimated between $30 billion and $50 billion.
However, Eyesan stressed that regulatory approvals and investment commitments would only deliver value when projects move from planning stages into production.
“The priority now is execution. Approvals and investment commitments are important, but their real value is realised when projects move and new volumes come onstream,” she said.
The Commission also highlighted Nigeria’s hydrocarbon potential, noting that the country’s proved and probable reserves stood at 37.01 billion barrels of oil and condensate and 215.19 trillion cubic feet of gas as of January 1, 2026.
The NUPRC said regulatory certainty, decarbonisation strategies and gas commercialisation efforts remained key tools for ensuring that Nigerian oil and gas assets remain attractive to international investors amid changing global energy trends.
Earlier, AECAF Chairman, John Ofikhenua, traced the challenges facing oil and gas investments in Nigeria over the past two decades, including the impact of the United States shale oil boom, the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing pressure from global net-zero commitments.
He noted that recent geopolitical developments, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict and tensions involving the Strait of Hormuz, had renewed global interest in reliable oil and gas supplies, creating fresh opportunities for Nigeria.
Ofikhenua said discussions among major economies had gradually shifted from the traditional “energy transition” narrative towards a broader “energy mix” approach, where different energy sources would continue to play significant roles.
He pointed to investor interest in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals initial public offering (IPO), as well as the NUPRC licensing rounds, as signs of renewed confidence in Nigeria’s hydrocarbon sector.
The AECAF chairman also announced that the association, formerly known as the Energy Correspondents Association of Nigeria (ECAN), had completed its registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and established its own bank account.
He urged the Federal Government to sustain the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act and intensify efforts to improve security in the Niger Delta, stressing that policy consistency and a stable operating environment remained vital to retaining investor confidence in the sector.
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