By Udeme Akpan
Energy leaders have called for improved funding access, gas infrastructure and an enabling environment to unlock Nigeria’s oil and gas production growth and achieve the federal government’s 3 million barrels per day target by 2030.
The call was made in Lagos at the Nigeria Energy Leaders Summit 2026 organised by The Energy Year, a London-based business intelligence firm, where operators, service companies and lawyers agreed that capital, pipelines and credibility are now more critical than geology.
Chairman of Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) and Chief Executive Officer of Geoplex Drillteq, Mr. Wole Ogunsanya, said funding is the biggest constraint facing the new indigenous producers that acquired assets from International Oil Companies, while equipment scarcity is holding back swamp and deepwater drilling.
He said Seplat, which acquired ExxonMobil’s shallow water assets producing over 300,000 barrels per day, and Renaissance Africa Energy, which bought Shell’s land, swamp and shallow water portfolio, are challenged to finance growth, with Renaissance scaling rigs from 9 to 23 to develop its fields.
“So these companies are going to be challenged from funding point of view. As I always say, every problem that you have is always a solution. So it’s a good problem for them,” Ogunsanya said, noting Seplat’s London listing gives it better access to capital.
He said Nigeria also needs more rigs in the swamp, shallow water and deepwater, where at least three major IOC projects led by Esso, TotalEnergies and Chevron are starting before year-end.
On gas, he said pipeline infrastructure is the bottleneck and urged government to incentivise non-associated gas drilling and mandate gas volumes per barrel of oil.
“For me, I’m going to ask the government to ensure that the environment is convenient enough. Nigerian credibility should be strong enough to ensure we can attract funding. The operators are serious about helping us to improve gas production in Nigeria,” he said.
Chief Operating Officer of Transoceanic Energy Group, Mr. Muazu Magaji, said financing a $2.5 billion Floating LNG project has been the toughest hurdle.
“It’s very difficult to say, give me $2.5 billion, I want to do a project in Nigeria. You know, just two days ago, I listened to Dangote Refinery President. He said, nobody wanted to give us money, so we have to use our balance sheet to raise money,” Magaji said.
Magaji said technical capacity and organizing Nigerians around big projects are also challenges, though talent exists.
He warned that Nigeria’s trillion-dollar economy ambition is tied to energy consumption.
Technical Director of Navante Oil & Gas, Emeka Onwochei, said lack of infrastructure for gas distribution, precision fabrication and Christmas tree servicing, forcing operators to Angola, reflects underinvestment due to power problems and lack of long-term demand commitment from IOCs. He urged deliberate investment and pipelines.
Partner at Dentons ACAS-Law, Josephine Udonsak, said stronger partnerships across operators, service firms and regulators who now act as partners, plus government support, are needed to de-risk projects and unlock funding for gas.
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