Nigeria needs an increase in investment and better security as veritable strategies to maximise and even improve its 37.50 billion barrels of oil and gas reserves, an oil and gas governance consultant, Mr. Ademola Adigun, has said.

Speaking with New Telegraph over the weekend, Adigun, who is also the Chief Executive Officer, AHA Consultancies, called for better management of the oil and gas reserves.

He stated that there was the need for more exploration activities to increase Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves and even maximise it.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) had stated that as of January 1, 2024, Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves were 37.50 billion barrels which is an increase from 37.046 billion barrels in May 2022.

Nigeria’s oil reserves rank second largest in Africa and tenth largest in the world. The country also has 209.26 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas reserves, making it the eighth largest in the world and the largest in Africa.

Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, while recently hosting the Governor of Kogi State, Usman Ododo said Nigeria’s 37.50 billion barrels of oil and gas reserves should have been doubled with increasing exploration activities.

He also decried that for over 12 years Nigeria had not done much oil exploration. He, however, said with enhanced activities in the oil and gas sector, the country should be doubling its crude reserves, especially with the floating of the Frontier Exploration Fund (FEF).

He said: “For the past few years, Nigeria hasn’t actually done much exploration and that is why our reserves are lowgrade. Our reserves are about 37 billion barrels. But our reserves should be at least two times that.

“The reason is that all our neighbours that didn’t have oil, when our reserves were at 30 billion barrels, have found oil. So there’s no way we will not find more oil, like we have found in Kogi and in other parts of Nigeria.

The reason we haven’t been able to update our records is because not much exploration was done in the last 12 years.

“But for the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), there was no money available that the government could use to do these seismic exploratory activities that will enable us to increase our reserves, not only in crude oil, but also in gas.

And so I want to assure you that there’s funding that’s available for that purpose, and the government is committed to ensuring that we do that for the overall strategic national interest of Nigeria.”

Adigun identified COVID-19, which paralysed socio-economic activities and delay in passing the PIA, as some of the causes of delay in exploration activities in the sector in some past years.

He said: “Not much activities were done in oil exploration because we were doing the Petroleum Industry Act for some time. Then it was eventually passed and we had COVID-19 challenges. So we have done what we need to do in terms of the legal framework.

The PIA is good, it has enough fiscals which are good incentives for exploration. Therefore, we should start improving. “To get exploration going up, you need to do a few things. One is the PIA, which has already been done.

Secondly, you have to ensure that your business environment is attractive enough for investment. Thirdly, it is how people can get their money out. How investors can get their money out. I think with the current scene, things are getting better and brighter. “We need more investment in exploration activities.

Without a significant increase in exploration activities, you cannot have more oil production because with exploration you have more findings. Chevron just found oil in the field which they announced recently. You can not find oil without exploration, so you need to improve exploration activities to have more outputs.

“There are always more things to be done but whatever you do must be enough to bring in investors but not at the detriment of your earning from that sector. You can not because you are bringing investors now to ensure that you lose money.”

The oil sector analyst said it was encouraging that some International Oil Companies have expressed their renewed investment interest in the country. He said the Federal Government had activated some strategies to attract and retain foreign investors into the country.

Adigun said: “It is good news that some IOCs have expressed their interest in investing in Nigeria. We need as much investments as we can find in the oil and gas sector. So it is good news and I am happy to hear that kind of good news.

“We are doing the right thing even though there are a lot of pain with Nigerians and all the reforms the government is doing on foreign exchange, in taxation and all the announcement that the SA on Energy and her team are doing on deep port and other incentives, they are all part of those methodology of improving on investments climate and ensuring that investors come in and that we will retain them. Another aspect of them is working on security. We are not doing badly on that track.”

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