By Ayomide Otitoju
The Presidency has announced that it is considering a restructuring of asset ownership within the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) as part of efforts to reverse Nigeria’s declining crude oil output.
Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, disclosed this on Monday at the ongoing Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) Conference in Lagos.
Verheijen said achieving the government’s target of three million barrels per day would require “performance-based stewardship,” questioning NNPC’s capacity to deliver the needed growth.
Crude oil production in Nigeria has averaged between 1.3 and 1.5 million barrels per day over the past two years, according to data from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
She noted that NNPC Exploration & Production Limited (NEPL) currently produces about 220,000 barrels daily—less than 10 percent of national output—and expressed doubts about the company’s ability to finance and execute large-scale drilling campaigns.
“Unlike in the era of international oil companies onshore, the current joint venture partners can no longer carry NNPCL. We must ask the hard question: Can NNPC deliver the incremental growth we need on its own balance sheet?” Verheijen said. “If not, we must have the courage to restructure asset ownership and invite credible operators with the technical capacity, financial depth, and governance discipline to drive performance.”
She added that revitalising the sector demands “performance-based stewardship, not sentiment,” and emphasised the need for private operators like Renaissance, Oando, Seplat, and Aiteo to move beyond minor upgrades toward large-scale greenfield developments.
Verheijen outlined a framework she called the “four R’s” — reserves, revenues, reliability, and responsibility — to guide Nigeria’s energy policy.
On reserves, she stressed the need to rebuild exploration opportunities, saying: “Exploration is not a PowerPoint slide. It’s a risky business, but risk has a price, and clarity is the discount. Since 2023, under President Tinubu’s leadership, Nigeria has worked to restore that clarity.”
She urged Nigeria to act swiftly to attract new exploration and production investments, warning that global competition for capital is intensifying.
“The world is not standing still. We must move faster to attract exploration and production investment. Investors will decide based on clear assessments of where they can deploy capital most efficiently,” she said.
Verheijen also highlighted the government’s progress in unlocking over $8 billion in final investment decisions through projects such as Ubeta, Bonga North, and HI, with another $20 billion expected soon.
“These aren’t signatures; they’re shovels in the ground,” she said, noting that the administration is also focused on expanding gas-to-power infrastructure, industrial uptake, and refining capacity to end import dependence and strengthen Nigeria’s position as a regional energy supplier.
