By Onu Okorie

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, has said Nigeria must sustain investment in its oil and gas industry while progressively diversifying its energy mix to respond to the global energy transition.
Ekpo said the country’s transition must reflect its development realities, arguing that natural gas would remain critical to meeting Nigeria’s immediate energy needs and driving industrialisation.
The minister spoke yesterday at the 2026 Annual Conference of the Association of Energy Correspondents Abuja (AECAF), held at Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja, with the theme: “Sustaining Oil and Gas Investment in Nigeria Amid Energy Transition.”
According to him, Nigeria remains an energy-rich country with significant oil and gas resources, but the challenge is to create an investment environment capable of converting those resources into industrialisation, employment, infrastructure and improved living standards.
He identified policy stability, regulatory certainty, fiscal competitiveness, security and efficient project delivery as critical requirements for sustaining investment in the petroleum sector.
“The challenge is to navigate this transition in a manner that safeguards energy security, promotes economic growth, attracts investment and ensures that our abundant natural resources continue to deliver value to our people,” Ekpo said.
PIA reforms critical to investment
The minister said the Federal Government had taken important steps towards improving the investment environment, particularly through implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 and ongoing reforms across the petroleum sector.
He said the reforms were intended to provide greater clarity and certainty for investors, strengthen regulatory institutions and create a more competitive operating environment.
However, Ekpo noted that legislation alone could not guarantee investment, stressing that investors also required confidence that policies would be implemented consistently and projects executed efficiently.
Gas central to energy transition
Ekpo said his ministry was particularly focused on transforming Nigeria’s vast gas resources into a stronger foundation for economic development.
He pointed to the Decade of Gas Initiative, which seeks to increase domestic utilisation of gas for power generation, manufacturing, fertiliser production, petrochemicals, transportation and other productive activities.
He said infrastructure projects, including the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline and OB3 Gas Pipeline, as well as investments in gas processing, LNG and other midstream infrastructure, were critical to connecting Nigeria’s gas resources with domestic and international markets.
The government was also promoting LPG and CNG to expand access to cleaner and more affordable energy for households, businesses and industries, he added.
“Millions of Nigerians still require reliable electricity and access to cleaner cooking fuels, while our industries require affordable and dependable energy,” the minister said.
“Natural gas therefore has an important role to play as a transition fuel and as an enabler of industrialisation.”
Government, operators must address bottlenecks
Ekpo said sustaining investment would require greater efficiency across the petroleum industry, including efforts to tackle infrastructure constraints, insecurity, operational inefficiencies, lengthy contracting processes and regulatory bottlenecks.
He said while government had a responsibility to provide an enabling environment, operators must invest responsibly, improve efficiency and maintain high standards of safety and environmental performance.
Energy correspondents urged to provide balanced reporting
Earlier, the Chairman of AECAF, John Ofikhenua, said the conference was designed to stimulate discussion on ways of sustaining investment in Nigeria’s hydrocarbon industry amid changing global energy priorities.
Ofikhenua said investment had historically been vulnerable to adverse policy decisions, global economic shocks and shifts in international energy strategies.
He cited the emergence of shale production in the United States and the COVID-19 pandemic as developments that contributed to periods of uncertainty and contraction in oil and gas investment.
According to him, the energy transition has also affected investment flows into hydrocarbons, with some international companies divesting from Nigeria’s onshore assets.
He argued, however, that subsequent global energy disruptions had demonstrated the continuing importance of oil and gas to energy security.
Ofikhenua said the Russia-Ukraine war and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz had reinforced the strategic importance of reliable hydrocarbon supplies.
He said the changing global debate was increasingly moving towards an “energy mix” rather than an exclusive focus on energy transition.
Policy consistency, security vital
Focusing on Nigeria, the AECAF chairman said the country needed to take advantage of renewed investor interest by maintaining a predictable regulatory environment.
He identified sustained implementation of the PIA, national security and policy stability as key conditions for retaining existing investors and attracting new capital.
“National security is very vital to oil sector investment drive,” Ofikhenua said, stressing the need for a peaceful operating environment, particularly in the Niger Delta.
He also called for an end to what he described as policy summersaults, arguing that enduring and stable policies were necessary to maintain investor confidence.
The chairman cited renewed investor interest in Nigeria’s petroleum sector, including attention around the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals IPO and the NUPRC’s oil and gas licensing rounds, as indications of continuing interest in the industry.