Financing, Regulatory Gaps, Skills Shortage Slow Private Investment in Downstream—PTDF

The Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) has identified financing, regulatory gaps and a shortage of technical skills among the challenges confronting private investors in Nigeria’s midstream and downstream petroleum sector.

The executive secretary of PTDF, Prof. Shuaibu Shehu Aliyu, said this in his welcome address at the maiden PTDF Journal Summit 2026, themed “Private Sector Participation in Nigeria’s Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Sector: Prospects, Challenges and the Way Forward.”

Aliyu said private investors were showing growing interest in refining, gas processing, logistics, storage and distribution of petroleum products, but that several problems stood in their way.

“We are also confronted with challenges related to financing, infrastructure, regulatory certainty, access to technology, market efficiency and technical capacity, all of which require open and constructive discussion,” he said.

He said the growing involvement of private investors offered gains in economic growth, job creation, technology development and local capacity. He added that realising these gains would take more than money and facilities.

“We need not only investment and infrastructure but also the right policies, technical capacity, technology, research and effective collaboration among government, industry and academia,” he said.

Aliyu said PTDF wanted research to solve industry problems in practice, not stop at publication. He said research outputs should move “towards application, intellectual property development and commercialisation,” and that “stronger partnerships between industry and research institutions will be critical in achieving this goal.”

The Summit was initiated by the editorial board of the Petroleum Technology Development Journal (PTDJ), a peer-reviewed, open-access publication. Aliyu said the Journal is one of the main channels through which PTDF advances its mandate in research, technology development and human capital development. He said the Summit turns ideas in the Journal into dialogue, collaboration and practical solutions for the industry.

The keynote address was delivered by the managing director/chief executive officer of Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited,  Oladapo Filani. Discussants at the event included industry operators, regulators, academics and researchers.

Aliyu said the Summit was set up as a continuing platform for engagement on issues affecting the petroleum and energy sector. He expressed hope that its discussions would produce practical recommendations to inform policy, investment, research priorities, capacity development and industry practice.