By Ayomide Otitoju
The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Engr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, has called for stronger collaboration across Nigeria’s energy industry to unlock Africa’s vast energy potential, describing strategic partnerships as critical to driving investment, industrialisation and sustainable growth.
Ojulari made the call while delivering the keynote address at the opening ceremony of the 25th NOG Energy Week at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja.
He said collaboration among governments, national oil companies, investors, regulators, financiers, academia and service providers is essential to positioning Africa as a global hub for energy investment, technology and value creation.
Highlighting NNPC’s recent achievements, Ojulari disclosed that the company recorded an average 98 per cent recovery across its five crude oil export terminals between April 2025 and May 2026, compared with operational lows of about one per cent at the Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal in June 2022.
He also announced that Nigeria’s crude oil production had increased to 1.71 million barrels per day, the highest level in five years, while NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL) achieved a record production of 365,000 barrels per day.
According to him, gas production rose to 7.5 billion standard cubic feet per day following the completion of the River Niger crossing on the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline and the commissioning of the ANOH Gas Processing Plant.
Ojulari said NNPC maintained 100 per cent compliance with all Joint Venture cash call obligations throughout 2025 and up to June 2026, while sustaining efforts to raise crude oil production to two million barrels per day.
He disclosed that the company had signed major Gas Sale and Purchase Agreements covering 1.29 billion standard cubic feet per day for long-term LNG feed gas and 750 million standard cubic feet per day for domestic industrial gas supply to DFL FZE and Dangote Refinery.
The agreements, he said, represent more than US$20 billion in associated investments, with seven additional commercial transactions currently in the pipeline.
Ojulari further revealed that NNPC resumed full monthly remittances to the Federation Account in July 2025, reinstated monthly business performance reporting and hosted its first earnings call in November 2025 as part of efforts to strengthen transparency, accountability and investor confidence.
He urged stakeholders to move beyond transactional relationships to strategic partnerships, integrated value chains and industrial development, stressing that no single organisation can unlock Africa’s energy potential alone.
Ojulari identified fragmented collaboration as a major constraint to Africa’s energy transformation, citing weak linkages between resource owners, operators, investors, policymakers and innovators.
Despite Africa holding about 17 per cent of global natural gas reserves alongside significant oil and renewable energy resources, he noted that the continent continues to attract only a small share of global energy investment.
He called for greater cooperation across the sector, saying Africa’s future energy success would depend not only on its natural resources but also on the strength of partnerships forged to harness them.
Now in its 25th year, NOG Energy Week remains Africa’s premier oil, gas and energy conference, bringing together industry leaders, policymakers, investors and innovators to discuss the future of energy, sustainability and industrial development.
