The Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria has called on the Federal Government and regulators to remove oil operators that lack the technical capacity to develop their assets, saying this is necessary for the country to achieve its target of raising crude oil production to three million barrels per day by 2030.

The President of PETAN, Wole Ogunsanya, made the call at the just-concluded Energy Leaders Summit organised by The Energy Year in Lagos, where he said some oil assets with significant production potential had been awarded to companies that lacked the expertise and capacity to maximise them.

Ogunsanya said Nigeria currently has an opportunity to significantly increase production, noting that several deepwater projects are expected to commence drilling before the end of the year. “We have a bunch of assets awarded to companies that do not have the expertise to handle those assets.

“People raise money; they don’t have what it takes to do it. I always say this, and sometimes I say it the way I say it as much as I can. So, we’ve got assets that have huge potential awarded to people who were not prepared or did not have the expertise to do it before.

“And that’s why we are behind in some of the production, even where we had the assets that should be producing two or three times what they are producing, and for years, even when we bought these assets, they were producing less than the volume that we bought them at.”

The PETAN president urged the regulators and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to ensure that oil assets were transferred to operators with the requisite technical and financial capacity where existing operators failed to deliver.

“We are going to rely on NNPC. We are going to rely on the regulators. Policies are coming up now. If you cannot produce the asset, they are going to take it from you.

“If the regulators are serious about increasing this production, it’s to ensure that the assets will be handed over to the people that have the capacity to do them. We just did a bid round with a lot of stories around it. Another one is coming. If we truly want to increase oil and gas production in Nigeria, let’s give those assets to people that have the capacity to do them,” he emphasised.

Nigeria has set an ambition to raise crude oil production to about three million barrels per day by 2030, from the current level of between 1.7 million and 1.8 million barrels per day, according to Ogunsanya.

He said the target was ambitious but achievable, citing increased activity in the deepwater, land and swamp areas. “There is a lot of FID in the deepwater; there is a bunch of fields that are being awarded on land and swamp,” he said.

He also identified the planned development of shallow-water assets as another major opportunity for increased production, citing Seplat Energy and Renaissance Africa Energy as examples.

According to him, Seplat, which acquired ExxonMobil’s Nigerian shallow-water assets, has access to funding through its London listing and could increase production from the assets.

“That asset was producing at a time over 300,000 barrels under ExxonMobil. I think they tried to push about 200,000 barrels a day,” Ogunsanya said.

He noted that Renaissance, which acquired Shell’s onshore and shallow-water assets, is also increasing its drilling activity.

“As for Renaissance, some of us have engaged them. They are doing a lot to find partners to develop a number of their fields. They are moving from about eight or nine rigs to about 23 rigs. That is moving already now, so we are expecting probably another 350–400,000 barrels from that,” he disclosed.

Ogunsanya said funding remains another major challenge confronting operators seeking to increase production, stressing that the government needed to create an environment capable of attracting investment.

“I’m going to advise the government to ensure that the environment is convenient enough. Nigerian credibility should be strong enough to ensure we can attract funding. The operators are serious about helping us to improve gas production in Nigeria. So funding is a critical point for me that we need to cover,” he said.

On gas production, the PETAN president called for greater investment in pipeline infrastructure and increased development of non-associated gas.

Ogunsanya also pointed to the growing refining capacity in Nigeria, saying the country could soon have substantial domestic refining capacity alongside its crude export potential.

He noted that Dangote Petroleum Refinery currently had a 650,000 barrels-per-day capacity, with plans to increase it, while BUA was developing additional refining capacity, and several modular refineries were operating across the country.

Meanwhile, the Technical Director at Navante Oil and Gas, Emeka Onwuechi, called for greater collaboration between energy producers and indigenous oilfield service companies to deepen local capacity.

Onwuechi said Nigeria still relied heavily on foreign service centres and expatriate expertise for some critical oilfield equipment and services.

He said the country lacked sufficient capacity to manufacture some critical equipment, including Christmas trees, forcing operators to depend on facilities outside Nigeria.

“For instance, currently in-country, we have no capacity to do things like Christmas trees. We still have to rely on maybe some service centres like Angola,” Onwuechi said.

He urged international oil companies to establish more facilities and develop infrastructure in Nigeria to support upcoming projects and create sustainable local capacity.

A Partner at Dentons ACAS-Law, Josephine Udonsak, stressed the importance of proper project preparation, stakeholder engagement and early involvement of regulators and advisers in energy projects.

She said project developers need to understand regulatory and financing requirements before structuring deals, rather than bringing advisers into projects after key decisions have already been made.

“I think the foundation needs project preparation, and that’s so key. And what does that entail? It entails stakeholder engagement,” Udonsak said.

She added that parties to energy projects need to have a clear understanding of their commercial objectives and the risks they could realistically assume.

“Both parties have to have a realistic view of what risk they can take and what risk they are best placed to take, and the deal and the contracts have to be structured that way,” she said.

In her remarks, the Energy Year Country Director, Anesa Mesnikovič, explained that the event was to launch the Energy Year Nigeria 2026 edition, which she said captured the key perspectives, achievements and milestones shaping Nigeria’s energy future.

Mesnikovič added that the gathering was also to celebrate the individuals and organisations recognised in the Nigeria Energy Leadership Awards. “Behind each achievement are people whose expertise, commitment, and daily work help move the industry forward,” she stated.