The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has urged the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to accelerate regulatory approvals and strengthen support for deepwater investments to keep Nigeria competitive in the global energy market.
NNPCL Group CEO, Bayo Ojulari, made the appeal in The Upstream Gaze, marking NUPRC’s fourth anniversary. He praised the Commission’s progress in digitalising licensing, improving crude measurement systems, and attracting new investors through bid rounds and gas commercialisation initiatives.
Ojulari, however, called for greater regulatory efficiency and investor confidence. “Global competition for capital is fierce, and Nigeria must remain attractive to investments,” he said.
Earlier this year, NUPRC announced plans to unlock 810,000 additional barrels of crude per day from deepwater fields, potentially boosting national output to 2.51 million barrels daily, including condensates.
Highlighting NNPCL’s priorities, Ojulari said the company aims to grow oil and gas production, position gas as Nigeria’s transition fuel, and ensure domestic energy security. The company targets 3 million barrels of oil and 12 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day by 2030.
He noted that production gains are being driven by new and existing field developments, deepwater Final Investment Decisions, and frontier basin exploration supported by NUPRC’s regulatory role, as NNPCL and partners currently produce over 95% of Nigeria’s oil.
Ojulari credited the NNPC Production War Room and the Industry-Wide Security Architecture for improving efficiency, collaboration, and security, raising output to over 1.7 million barrels per day, the highest since 2020.
He added that NNPCL is rehabilitating refineries, partnering with private operators like Dangote Refinery, and expanding logistics infrastructure to strengthen domestic refining and energy security.
Ojulari reaffirmed NNPCL’s commitment to the Presidential goal of attracting $60 billion in new oil and gas investments by 2030, emphasizing that close collaboration with NUPRC will be key to meeting Nigeria’s production and energy transition targets.
