During a strategic meeting at the NUPRC headquarters in Abuja, the Commission’s Chief Executive, Gbenga Komolafe, met with Mr. Chuba Ezenwa, Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking for Sub-Saharan Africa at the Bank of America.
According to Eniola Akinkuotu, NUPRC’s Head of Media and Strategic Communications, the meeting was part of a wider engagement with international financial institutions aimed at bridging the funding gap in Nigeria’s upstream sector.
Komolafe stated that the engagement aligns with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which empowers the Commission to promote an enabling environment for upstream petroleum investments and Nigerian content development.
“Funding remains a key challenge for many operators despite the improvement in crude production over the past year,” Komolafe said. “Nigeria is endowed with vast hydrocarbon resources, and we are working to optimise production through deeper collaboration and fresh capital inflows.”
The Federal Government has set a target to raise crude output to 1.8 million barrels per day in line with OPEC’s quota, while also aiming to attract up to $20 billion in new oil and gas investments by 2030.
Nigeria’s oil production had dropped below 1.3 million barrels per day in 2022 due to crude theft, pipeline vandalism, and underinvestment, but has since improved following reforms and enhanced security.
Commending NUPRC’s leadership, Ezenwa praised Komolafe’s reforms, noting that the increase in output has reignited investor confidence in Nigeria’s upstream sector. “We are encouraged by the results so far and will continue to support your efforts,” he said.
