Uche Cecil Izuora
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Petralon Energy, Ahonsi Unuigbe, has said that
Nigeria’s oil and gas sector is moving beyond policy design and into implementation.
He said recent gas initiatives, licensing activity and production-focused reforms are beginning to show concrete momentum.
Speaking to CNBC Africa on the sidelines of Nigeria Oil and Gas Energy Week in Abuja, Unuigbe said a series of developments including new memoranda of understanding around gas production and reforms, as well as the ongoing marginal field bid round point to a sector that is becoming more execution-driven.
“The energy transition with the focus on increased gas production is happening, is going from strategy to execution,” Unuigbe said, referring to agreements signed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company’s leadership with several companies in the gas segment.
His comments come at a time when Africa’s largest oil producer is trying to attract fresh investment into its upstream industry, lift crude output, deepen gas development and convince global investors that reforms are translating into bankable opportunities. Nigeria has rolled out a range of policy actions in recent months, including presidential directives, fiscal incentives and efforts to improve the operating climate for investors.
Unuigbe struck an upbeat tone on the outlook for Nigeria’s resource base, arguing that the country’s opportunity set is so extensive that comparisons with other fast-rising hydrocarbon markets such as Angola, Namibia, Guyana and Cote d’Ivoire miss the bigger picture.
“Nigeria has not finished, we haven’t even scratched the surface,” he said.
He pointed to Nigeria’s large gas endowment — which he described as the biggest in Africa and among the largest globally — alongside its oil reserves, arguing that domestic operators should remain focused on unlocking value at home rather than looking outward. He also referenced the government’s 2030 ambition to raise oil production from about 1.5 million barrels per day to 3 million barrels per day, a target that would require an additional 1.5 million barrels a day of new output.
For Unuigbe, that production challenge presents a major opening for indigenous players. “Who’s going to do that? It is us who are here,” he said, underscoring his view that local companies will need to play a central role in meeting the country’s output goals.
A key signal for serious investors, he said, is the tone of the current marginal field licensing process.
Unuigbe said it was encouraging to hear the leadership of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission emphasize governance capacity, operational effectiveness and collaboration in the awarding of more than 50 licenses expected by the end of the month.
That focus, he said, suggests a more merit-based approach centered on competence and capacity, a shift that could boost confidence among established operators and financial backers looking for credible counterparties.
Still, Unuigbe argued that policy reform alone will not be enough to bring in the kind of long-duration capital Nigeria wants. In his view, the country must do more to market itself effectively to global investors.
“The reforms that will unlock more capital are ongoing,” he said, citing recent presidential orders, fiscal incentives and investment decisions by international oil companies including Shell. But he added that beyond reform, “what you need to unlock patient capital is… selling the story of the opportunity in Nigeria.”
According to Unuigbe, Nigeria continues to be weighed down by an exaggerated narrative around operational difficulty and risk. While acknowledging that every market carries its own risks, he said the upside in Nigeria is “grossly understated,” and that policymakers and industry leaders need to do a better job highlighting the scale of the opportunity.
He used Petralon’s own experience as an example of what can be achieved in Nigeria’s marginal field space.
The company secured a marginal field license in 2021 and has since focused on raising capital, building technical capabilities and deploying equipment to move the asset into production.
Over the last 10 months, Unuigbe said Petralon drilled more than 20,000 feet into the field and encountered 14 hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs with more than 600 feet of net oil pay. In practical terms, he said, the company identified around 7 million barrels of recoverable reserves in one well and another 6 million barrels in a second well, with production capacity exceeding 4,000 barrels per day.
That work, he said, helped move the company from no production to roughly 5,000 barrels per day of capacity over the past year, effectively tripling output capacity in 12 months. Looking ahead, Petralon plans to drill four additional wells over the next two years and target output of at least 15,000 barrels per day from the asset.
The company is also evaluating additional marginal field opportunities as the current licensing round progresses.
Despite growing industry discussion around artificial intelligence and digital tools, Unuigbe said Petralon’s immediate priority remains operational delivery rather than chasing technology trends. He said the company is not yet focused on AI adoption, arguing that in Nigeria’s upstream context, the more urgent requirements are drilling rigs, technical expertise, operational depth and resilient teams capable of executing projects.
“I’m not somebody who follows fads,” he said, adding that AI may become a useful add-on in time, but is not central to the company’s near-term production strategy.
On the broader market outlook, Unuigbe linked Nigeria’s long-term energy case to shifts in the global geopolitical landscape. Referencing supply disruptions and market volatility tied to tensions around key global shipping chokepoints, he argued that Nigeria and other African producers offer an underappreciated strategic advantage: proximity to Atlantic export routes and the ability to supply Europe and the Americas without relying on more vulnerable corridors.
In that context, Unuigbe said Nigeria’s vast oil and gas resources should be seen not only as a domestic economic opportunity but also as part of a broader global supply diversification story. He added that if more investment were directed toward unlocking African hydrocarbon production not just in Nigeria, but also in markets such as Angola, Libya, Namibia, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire global energy systems could become less concentrated and potentially more resilient.
For Nigeria, his message was straightforward: the reserves are there, reforms are advancing and the next phase will depend on execution, credibility and the ability to attract patient capital to convert potential into sustained production growth.