Story of Nigeria’s petroleum sector being rewritten under President Tinubu – Lokpobiri 

By Onu Okorie 

The Nigeria’s Minister of state for petroleum resources oil, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri has said that the story of Nigeria’s petroleum sector is being rewritten under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. 

The Minister stated this in Abuja yesterday during the ongoing Nigeria International Energy Summit NIES.

According to him, “this new chapter is about bold partnerships, transformative projects, and shared prosperity. The reforms are in place. The opportunities are real. The leadership is committed. The timing is right. So, I invite you: come to Nigeria. Build with us. Profit with us. Not as distant investors, but as co-architects of a future where Africa’s largest energy producer powers the continent’s growth and anchors global markets.”

The Minister also argued that it’s a fact that Nigeria possesses enormous hydrocarbons endowment, and a geography that combines deep water, shallow, and onshore acreages, but resource richness alone is not enough. What makes Nigeria now different is the legal, regulatory, financial, and structural transformation we are delivering. 

Because “investment-ready” means more than just having reserves; it means having clarity, predictability, efficiency, incentives, and alignment. When this government started, this sector was struggling, production and capital flight, investment had stalled.

 He explained that for more than a decade there was no major final investment decisions on new projects in the country.

According to the Minister, “Investors were cautious, and confidence was lacking, that was the reality. We implemented the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which gives investors a stable fiscal framework, clearer licensing, stronger regulation, protection for host communities, local content provisions, and ensures that contracts and terms are predictable.” He said.

“We made moves to reduce costs in upstream operations: the Upstream Petroleum Operations (Cost Efficiency Incentives) Order 2025 grants tax credits to companies, lower unit operating costs and other far reaching fiscal regimes.”

“We launched “Project One Million Barrels” in October 2024. In less than a year, production rose to between 1.7-1.83 million barrels per day, up by roughly 300,000 barrels in July 2025 alone.”

 “The number of active rigs jumped from a paltry 14 in 2023 to over 60 as at today. These are signs that the reforms are working, that idle assets are being activated, and existing assets are being optimized.International confidence has also returned: Shell’s $5 billion Bonga North project, and TotalEnergies’ $550 million Ubeta project marks Nigeria’s first major FIDs in over a decade.”

“This was followed by Shell’s 2 billion Dollars HI project and the $1.8m cumulative spent by Chevron in their Panther project. Only recently, the global CEO of Shell announced their commitment to taking a $20 billion FID, with several other FID lined up to be announced in this year and in the coming year.”