FG to Oil Firms: Scale Up Production to Boost Economy

The Federal Government has reiterated its call for indigenous oil companies to ramp up crude oil production, aiming to meet rising domestic demand, support exports, and enhance national revenue.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, made the appeal during a meeting with the management of Renaissance Africa Energy at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

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Renaissance Africa Energy recently finalized the acquisition of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, following an extensive regulatory approval process. The consortium behind Renaissance includes ND Western Limited, Aradel Holdings Plc, FIRST Exploration and Petroleum Development Company Ltd., Waltersmith Group, and the international firm Petrolin.

Together, these partners will manage assets worth more than $3 billion and are expected to produce around 100,000 barrels of crude oil daily across 12 oil mining leases. The group also runs two modular refineries in the Niger Delta region.

During the meeting, Lokpobiri pointed out that Nigeria hosts some of the most experienced professionals in Africa’s oil and gas industry. Despite this, oil production has remained flat at about 1.5 million barrels per day—well short of the government’s 2025 target of 2.1 million barrels daily.

The minister expressed optimism that the transfer of oil assets from international companies to local firms would significantly boost output. He stressed that such transitions would enable quicker, locally-made decisions that better serve national interests.

“Divestment is a global norm. If we want to attract fresh investments, we must also allow investors the freedom to exit when necessary,” Lokpobiri said. “Thanks to President Bola Tinubu’s leadership, long-standing obstacles to investment flows are being dismantled.”

He further emphasized the competence of Nigerians in managing oil operations. “If you strip away the brand names like Shell, Chevron, or ExxonMobil, you’ll find Nigerians running the operations beneath it all,” he said.

Lokpobiri challenged Renaissance to justify confidence in its capabilities by driving up oil output and making the most of the newly acquired assets.

Renaissance CEO, Dr. Tony Attah, in his remarks, described the company as proudly Nigerian and committed to doing more than its predecessor in developing the country.

“Shell conducted exploration and production to develop its home nation. At Renaissance, we aim to do the same—but for Nigeria. That’s the distinction,” he said.

He added, “Nigeria is already a front-runner in sectors like entertainment, telecommunications, and banking. But in energy, we want to go beyond leading in theory—we want to lead in action and results, setting the pace for the entire continent.”