ABUJA — Industry leaders in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector have called on the federal government to urgently address the growing regulatory and financial hurdles discouraging investment in the oil and gas industry.
Speaking during a gas development panel at the ongoing NOG Energy Week in Abuja, stakeholders warned that Nigeria risks losing competitiveness in the global energy market unless it streamlines its regulatory framework.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, had earlier acknowledged the burden of over 273 different fees and rates imposed on operators and pledged government reforms. However, the Acting Managing Director and Gas Asset Manager of Neconde Energy Limited (OML 42), Engr. Chichi Emenike, told journalists that operators are facing closer to 500 levies from various government agencies.
“Most of the capital currently sustaining the industry comes from the private sector. But when finance enters an ecosystem, it must be profitable to remain viable,” Emenike said.
She stressed that despite ongoing reforms by the Tinubu administration, multiple regulatory agencies, overlapping charges—some even billed in foreign currency—and operational bottlenecks continue to stifle new investments.
“When we talk about ease of doing business, we mean removing operational hurdles that impede growth,” she added. “You deal with one agency, then another, and another. It becomes stifling for any investor.”
Still, Emenike acknowledged recent policy initiatives as a step in the right direction and urged consistency in their implementation.
She also called for the removal of the price cap on gas supplied to the power sector, arguing that a market-driven pricing model would attract investment and improve supply to electricity-generating plants.
“Gas is not like crude oil—it has limited market flexibility and lower margins. We need pricing policies that reflect market realities,” she said.
Emenike pointed out that although Nigeria boasts 210 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of proven gas reserves, the figure has remained largely stagnant due to underinvestment and regulatory constraints. She added that fixing liquidity challenges and enforcing cost-reflective tariffs in the power sector—Nigeria’s largest gas consumer—are key to long-term growth.
Also speaking at the session, Managing Director of Nigeria LNG, Philip Mshelbila, identified gas evacuation as a major challenge, noting that inadequate infrastructure to move gas from fields to processing facilities is hampering progress.
Executive Vice President (Gas, Power & New Energy) of NNPC Ltd., Olalekan Ogunleye, underscored the need for consistent implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to fully unlock Nigeria’s gas potential.
With industry consensus growing, stakeholders say the time is now for the federal government to act decisively to unlock investment and drive sustainable growth in the sector.
