Industry leaders, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) and the Independent Petroleum Producers’ Group (IPPG), have emphasised the need for substantial investments, regulatory reforms, and enhanced collaboration to unlock the sector’s full potential.
This is as Nigeria’s oil and gas industry operators outlined strategies to achieve the ambitious goal of raising crude oil production to 3 million barrels per day by 2030.
With plans to attract up to $60 billion in investments and expand refining and gas output, the country aims to overcome longstanding challenges such as underinvestment, infrastructure deficits, and security concerns.
Group chief executive officer of NNPC Ltd., Bashir Ojulari, while delivering a keynote address at the 24th NOG Energy Week (NOG) on Tuesday, in Abuja, said the company has recorded a 100 per cent availability on Major Crude Oil Pipelines in the country.
Ojulari said that, for the first time in a long while, the nation enjoyed 100 per cent crude oil pipeline availability throughout June 2025.
He said that the feat, which was possible through the industry-wide security interventions led by the NNPC Ltd., helped to boost crude oil production.
He, however, called for more investments to boost production, adding that the company had been able to turn the narrative around by consistently meeting its cash-call obligations to Joint Venture operations.
“The narrative has always been NNPC not having the ability to pay its cash call.
Today the NNPC is able to raise finance for all its operations,” he said.
The GCEO also said that the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline had successfully crossed the River Niger, boosting the hope of the project’s completion by fourth quarter (Q4) 2025.
He said that the feat was achieved through innovative contract reengineering and industry collaboration.
According to him, the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) also placed NNPC Ltd. in a good position to live up to its responsibility of leading the industry in financing projects.
Also speaking, chairman, Independent Petroleum Producers’ Group (IPPG), Mr. Abdulrazaq Isa, said that the ongoing reform in the Nigerian oil and gas industry was at a critical phase as favourable industry policies continue to be formulated.
Isa said that the implementation of the PIA was being accelerated while the International Oil Companies (IOCs) divestments had been concluded, with critical leadership appointments made at the NNPC Ltd.
“The immediate focus for us as an industry is to reposition and key into the marching order given by the President to the NNPC Ltd.
“This is to raise national production to three million barrels per day and 12 billion cubic feet of gas by 2030.
“The industry must provide an answer to two pertinent questions:
“Where will this incremental production of about 1.3 million barrels of oil per day and 4.5 billion cubic feet of gas come from within the next five years?
“What will be required to sustainably grow crude oil and gas production in line with this presidential target?”
He said that, given the five-year timeline, the bulk of the incremental crude oil and gas production would come from the recently divested assets in the onshore and shallow water acreages.
“These assets are primarily in the hands of IPPG members.
“We are quite aware of this national responsibility and have already begun implementing key strategic plans to ramp up production from these divested assets,” Isa said.
He urged the indigenous players, who now contribute over 50 per cent to the nation’s crude oil and gas production, to ensure a meaningful shift in the industry for a desired impact on national development.
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