Global Energy Acceleration Poses Challenge to Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Asset Optimisation – CPPE
By Naija Enquirer Staff
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has launched a renewed push for policy reforms aimed at attracting increased investment into Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas sector, warning that the accelerating global energy transition could undermine the country’s ability to fully optimise its vast hydrocarbon resources.
The organisation said Nigeria must urgently adopt stronger regulatory and investment-friendly measures to maximise the value of its oil and gas assets while global demand for fossil fuels remains significant.
Speaking while assessing developments in the upstream sector, CPPE’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Muda Yusuf, said Nigeria needs to rapidly scale up crude oil and gas production by implementing policies that encourage fresh investments across both onshore and offshore assets.
According to Yusuf, the urgency is heightened by the pace of the global energy transition, which is reshaping investment flows and long-term demand patterns.
“Nigeria must maximise the value of its hydrocarbon endowments while the opportunity still exists,” he said, stressing that delays could permanently erode the country’s competitive position in the global energy market.
Yusuf commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for resetting Nigeria’s petroleum regulatory architecture through the recent appointment of new Chief Executive Officers for the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
He described the appointments as a strategic opportunity to reposition Nigeria’s oil and gas regulatory environment in line with the administration’s broader goals of energy sovereignty, energy security, self-reliance and accelerated production growth.
The CPPE CEO said the new leadership at the petroleum regulatory institutions must urgently refocus sector priorities on reducing fuel import dependence, expanding domestic refining and processing capacity, and catalysing investment across the entire oil and gas value chain.
He added that the NUPRC, in particular, should prioritise production growth, investment facilitation and improved security of oil assets, with a clear national objective of raising crude oil output to at least two million barrels per day through close collaboration with industry stakeholders.
Yusuf also emphasised the need for expanded investment in gas production, noting that natural gas remains critical to Nigeria’s power generation, industrialisation and energy transition strategy.
“Ensuring strict compliance with domestic crude supply obligations to local refineries must be a priority if Nigeria is to reduce import dependence and stabilise its energy market,” he said.
He concluded that these strategic imperatives must define the direction of Nigeria’s new petroleum regulatory leadership if the oil and gas sector is to effectively drive sustainable growth, industrial development and long-term economic resilience.
