Tinubu’s energy adviser questions NNPC’s capacity, urges new asset ownership model to boost production….
The Presidency is considering a major overhaul of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.), citing concerns over what it described as the firm’s underwhelming oil production performance.
The Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, disclosed this on Monday at the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) Conference in Lagos, where she unveiled the administration’s plan to reposition Nigeria’s oil and gas industry for higher productivity, energy security, and sustainable growth.
Verheijen said the goal of achieving three million barrels of daily crude production will require “performance-based stewardship,” questioning whether NNPC Limited currently has the operational and financial capacity to deliver such growth.
According to her, NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL) contributes only about 220,000 barrels per day, representing less than 10 per cent of Nigeria’s total output. She warned that the state-owned company may be unable to fund the large-scale drilling campaigns required to raise national production levels.
“Unlike the era of international oil companies onshore, current joint venture partners can no longer carry the NNPC,” Verheijen said. “We must ask the hard question, can NNPC deliver the incremental growth we need on its own balance sheet? If not, we must have the courage to restructure asset ownership and invite credible operators with technical capacity, financial depth, and governance discipline.”
Four ‘R’s for Energy Reform
Verheijen outlined a policy framework anchored on what she called the “Four R’s” Reserves, Revenues, Reliability, and Responsibility, which she described as the core indicators of progress in the oil and gas sector.
On reserves, she stressed the urgency of expanding exploration and ensuring a transparent regulatory environment that attracts capital.
“Exploration is not a PowerPoint slide, it’s a risky business,” she said. “But risk has a price, and clarity is the discount. Since 2023, under President Tinubu’s leadership, Nigeria has worked to restore that clarity.”
She added that Nigeria must act quickly to remain competitive as investors now have multiple destinations for capital deployment in global energy markets.
Reforms Unlock $8bn in Investment
Verheijen also highlighted recent progress under the Tinubu administration, revealing that over $8 billion in Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) have been secured through projects such as Ubeta, Bonga North, and HI within just 18 month with another $20 billion in view.
“These aren’t just signatures, they’re shovels in the ground,” she said. “We are commercialising gas through long-term agreements, expanding LNG infrastructure, and building pipelines that transform stranded gas into bankable assets.”
She added that the government’s strategy extends beyond exports to domestic value creation, citing plans to deepen gas-to-power, LPG and CNG adoption, petrochemical development, and local refining to end fuel import dependence.
NNPC Chairman: We’ll Be Africa’s Leading Energy Company
Also speaking at the event, NNPC Chairman, Ahmadu Kida Musa, said the company is committed to transformation and collaboration, expressing confidence that the national oil company will become Africa’s leading integrated energy firm within five years.
“We want Nigerians to see NNPC as their company, a brand they’re proud of,” Kida said. “When people hear NNPC, it should sound like Nigeria scoring a goal against Brazil. That’s the kind of excitement and ownership we want to build.”
He added that NNPC’s long-term vision is to become “Africa’s uncontestable energy company.”
