The Federal Government says it has attracted prospective investments worth $21 billion from two foreign investor groups seeking opportunities in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, disclosed this on Monday at the 44th annual international conference of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) in Lagos.
He said the proposed investments emerged from discussions with international investors during the recently concluded Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC).
According to Lokpobiri, one of the groups is considering an investment of $15 billion, while another has indicated interest in committing $6 billion to the Nigerian petroleum industry.
He said the investors were attracted by the prospect of diversifying their portfolios away from the Gulf region following heightened geopolitical tensions and concerns over possible disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz.
The minister explained that the groups had signed or indicated willingness to enter into non-binding memoranda of understanding with prospective Nigerian partners.
“I can assure you that we had one or two non-binding MOUs with groups. One group is willing to mobilise $15 billion to invest in Nigeria,” he said.
He added that the investors considered Nigeria a strategic alternative for maintaining their operations and revenue streams in the event of disruptions in other oil-producing regions.
Lokpobiri said he was working to connect the foreign groups with Nigerian companies, stressing that the commercial negotiations and investment arrangements would be left to the parties involved.
He argued that Nigeria must explore alternative funding channels because African countries were increasingly disadvantaged by restrictions on access to international financing.
According to him, the establishment of the African Energy Bank is part of efforts to overcome the financing constraints confronting the continent's petroleum industry.
The minister said Afreximbank and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO) were working towards operationalising the institution, following its formal launch in Nigeria on October 31, 2026.
He disclosed that the bank had conducted its annual general meeting, fulfilled its conditions precedent and appointed its president and board.
The institution, he said, was expected to begin operations on January 4, 2027, in Abuja.
Lokpobiri added that discussions with potential foreign investors also focused on opportunities for the African Energy Bank to provide funding support for energy projects across the continent.
Rig count rises to over 60
On activities in the upstream sector, the minister said Nigeria had recorded a significant increase in the number of active drilling rigs, from approximately 10 to more than 60.
He attributed the development to sustained exploration and drilling campaigns by operators, saying the government was committed to creating an environment that would encourage further investment.
Lokpobiri, however, warned that the country's oil and gas endowment should not be measured solely by the volume of its proven reserves.
He cited Venezuela, which has more than 300 billion barrels of oil reserves but continues to grapple with economic difficulties, to illustrate the limitations of relying on reserve figures without adequate production.
He described Nigeria's 37 billion barrels of oil reserves and 215 trillion cubic feet of gas resources as largely academic unless they were developed and converted into commercially productive assets.
The minister expressed confidence that aggressive exploration could substantially increase Nigeria's reserves, particularly in deepwater locations.
He said an estimated additional 18 billion barrels of oil could be available in deepwater areas that were yet to be certified.
Lokpobiri also linked developments in the petroleum sector to the improvement in the country's external reserves.
Citing Central Bank of Nigeria figures, he said Nigeria's foreign reserves stood at about $56 billion, with the oil and gas industry contributing approximately 85 per cent.
He maintained that sustaining investment in exploration, production and infrastructure would be critical to maximising the country's petroleum resources and strengthening the economy.
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