The Federal Government has expressed its desire to attract move investments into the nation’s hydrocarbon resources industry, particularly in terms of Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) this year.
Olu Verheijen, the Special Adviser on Energy to President Bola Tinubu, gave this hint on Monday at the Nigeria International Energy Summit 2025, noting that Nigeria secured three out of Africa’s four FIDs last year, valued at over $5.5 billion, demonstrating the country’s position as a leading investment destination for deep offshore oil and gas investments.
She attributed the country’s improved investment climate to government’s ongoing reforms, including three presidential order issued in February 2024 to remove barriers to new investments in the oil and gas industry.
According to her, these measures, helped in securing investment commitments such as the Ubeta FID secured through a Total JV and Shell’s approval of the Bonga North FID.
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The Special Adviser recalled: “The year 2024 marked a turning point in our energy landscape, with Nigeria securing three out of Africa’s four Final Investment Decisions, valued at over $5.5 billion.
“Our nation solidified its position as a premier destination for deep offshore oil and gas investments, approved its first deepwater FID in over a decade, facilitated five major asset acquisitions, revived two domestic refineries, and commenced petrol production at Africa’s largest refinery.
“Looking ahead, additional FIDs are anticipated in 2025, further reinforcing investor confidence. The five major asset acquisitions completed in 2024 will play a critical role in accelerating production growth. These transactions have strategically integrated operators with deep local expertise and operational agility, ensuring more efficient resource extraction and management,” Verheijen added.
While noting that Nigeria had been unable to attract significant new oil and gas investments over the past years as international oil companies (IOCs) invested about $80 billion in other oil producing countries, the President’s aide attributed the worrisome development to investors’ concerns over Nigeria’s regulatory instability and an uncompetitive fiscal framework.
However, Verheijen explained that the present administration had taken steps to address the situation by improving security architecture in the oil-producing regions and implementing a data-driven security framework in collaboration with operators and security agencies, thereby increasing Nigeria’s oil production by 500,000 barrels per day since May 2023.
She maintained that with the administration’s target of restoring oil production to 2.06 million bpd in the near term and reaching four million bpd by 2030, the government’s target of attracting more FIDs, expanding deepwater operations, and ensuring Nigeria remained competitive among 14 oil and gas investment destinations.
Similarly, Verheijen identified the five major asset acquisitions completed in 2024 as key to boosting Nigeria’s oil production, adding that these transactions integrated operators with local expertise while enabling the IOCs to focus on deepwater operations.
She further clarified: “This strategic realignment is expected to drive sustained production growth, ensuring a steady and long-term increase in output.
“A key initiative is the Presidential Metering Initiative, which consolidates all metering programs into a unified framework, targeting the deployment of seven million smart meters. This initiative is designed to eliminate the inefficiencies of estimated billing, enhance revenue collection by electricity distribution companies, and significantly improve service delivery,” Vrehijen added.
She spoke on arrangements being made by the government to pay the outstanding debts owed to gas suppliers and power generation companies while implementing cost-reflective tariffs with targeted subsidies, stressing that these measures are crucial to ensuring investment-friendly and well-funded power sector needed to boost the nation’s industrialisation and economic growth.
The President’s aide said: “A more energy-secure Africa translates into a more economically resilient Africa. By leveraging our vast energy resources for industrial development and strategic exports, we are laying the foundation for sustainable job creation, economic diversification, and long-term prosperity.
“Our success in securing major investments, expanding domestic refining capacity, and enhancing electrification is not only a national achievement—it has far-reaching implications for regional energy security, intra-African trade, and industrialization,” she projected.
