Uche Cecil Izuora
Top oil and gas operators in Nigeria are set to play a major role at African Energy Week (AEW) 2026, bringing upstream expertise, project development experience and investment momentum to Cape Town as Africa seeks to accelerate regional energy collaboration.
Their participation reflects a growing push by Nigerian producers to engage more closely with regional and international stakeholders on new field development, gas commercialization and long-term energy investment.
At the event TotalEnergies’ Nigeria Managing Director and Country Chair Matthieu Bouyer will attend alongside former TotalEnergies Managing Director Adewale Fayemi.
A strategic player in the country’s upstream market, TotalEnergies continues to operate key deepwater assets in Nigeria and is among the international majors that have maintained offshore investment even as onshore and shallow-water positions have shifted to indigenous firms.
First E&P – which produces approximately 57,000 barrels per day (bpd) – has emerged as an increasingly more prominent player in Nigeria’s oil and gas market. The company has built its portfolio through direct asset development and positioning across the Niger Delta, contributing to the broader expansion of indigenous upstream capacity.
The CEO and MD Ademola Adeyemi-Bero and Chief Strategy Officer George Toriola will represent First E&P at AEW 2026 as the company assesses opportunities beyond Nigeria’s borders.
Meanwhile, Emadeb E&P continues to increase its portfolio through strategic acquisitions and project advancements. The company achieved first oil at the Ibom Field in 2025, marking the first new shallow-water offshore development in Nigeria in more than 15 years.
The company has invested more than $100 million and has further drilling campaigns planned. MD Oluwasegun Ogunsanya and COO Sheriff Adeeyo will both participate at AEW 2026.
SunTrust Atlantic Energies has produced more than 54 million barrels of crude from the Umusadege field in OML 56 since 2008, sustaining output of approximately 10,000 bpd. Founder and Chief Executive Ugo Okafor and Executive Director Rachel Akhuetie will attend AEW. The company’s sustained production from a single marginal field over nearly two decades demonstrates the long-term value available in Nigeria’s upstream portfolio when operators commit capital and operational continuity.
Lekoil will be represented by Company Secretary and General Manager of Legal Gloria Iroegbunam and Chief Technical Officer Sam Olotu.
Through its Otakikpo asset, the company commissioned Nigeria’s first indigenous onshore crude export terminal in nearly five decades while expanding gas-to-power infrastructure and advancing commercialization of additional discoveries including OPL 310.
Energia MD and CEO Oladimeji Bashorun and Pan Ocean & Newcross CFO Seyi Oladapo have also joined the conference. Pan Ocean and the Newcross have expanded across producing assets, gas infrastructure and export logistics, and will contribute to discussions on project financing and the capital structures required to sustain Nigeria’s upstream growth. For its part, Energia continues to support Nigeria’s production goals through a growing portfolio of operated and partnered assets across the Niger Delta.
“These operators are drilling new wells, building export terminals and financing offshore developments that did not exist five years ago. Nigeria’s upstream sector is growing not only through asset transfers but through new investment and new production,” stated NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber.
As African energy markets become increasingly interconnected, collaboration between leading operators will be critical to accelerating project development and unlocking new investment.
Through their participation at AEW 2026, Nigerian operators are bringing valuable expertise, capital and project execution capabilities to the regional dialogue, reinforcing their role in shaping Africa’s next phase of upstream growth