Foreign companies mobilise $21bn to invest in Nigeria’s oil, gas sector
Lagos, Nov. 2026 – Some foreign investor groups have mobilised $21 billion in fresh capital to invest in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), disclosed this in Lagos on Monday at the 44th annual international conference of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE).
He said these companies had made their commitments to the federal government and government was linking them to Nigerian companies to discuss the commercial details.
The minister said the commitments followed his recent engagements at the just-concluded ADIPEC conference in Abu Dhabi where global investors showed renewed interest in Nigeria as a diversification destination amid geopolitical risks in the Gulf region.
“I can assure you that we had one or two non-binding MOUs with groups. One group is willing to mobilise $15 billion to invest in Nigeria.
“Their argument is that we know that in terms of spare capacity, it is more in the Gulf region. But with what has happened in the Strait of Hormuz, it is important for companies that have money to diversify their investments in terms of locations.
“Some of them are willing to come to Nigeria and invest. So, if there is any disruption in one location, the investment in Nigeria will continue to sustain your cash flow.
“There’s another group that is committing $6 billion. And so, what I’m doing is linking those companies to companies in Nigeria,” he said.
The minister said he was not interested in the commercial details, but in bringing the parties together to negotiate.
He urged oil and gas operators to intensify drilling campaigns, strengthen indigenous technical capacity and invest in new discoveries as exploration activities had declined over the years before the current administration began efforts to revive upstream operations.
The minister said Nigeria could significantly expand its reserves through deliberate exploration programmes, particularly in deepwater areas with considerable untapped potential.
He said the country could not continue to depend on old discoveries to sustain future production.
