By: Energy capital & power

Nigerian officials issued a strong call for increased international investment at the 9th OPEC International Seminar in Vienna on Wednesday, warning that global financing structures are undermining Africa’s role in the future of energy security.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, stated that despite Nigeria’s significant refining potential, the country lacks sufficient crude supply to meet both domestic and regional demand.

“We want partners from upstream to downstream,” said Lokpobiri. “Nigeria has enormous refining capacity but we don’t even have the crude to meet that demand. Whatever you produce in Nigeria services the entire West African region.”

He warned that “the global North is weaponizing financing against Africa,” urging for a “radical change in attitude” to enable the continent’s full participation in shaping global energy security.

Echoing the sentiment, Eng. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, Group CEO of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), highlighted persistent supply shortfalls in the face of rising global demand.

“In Nigeria, the demand coming through this year has continued to be undersupplied– from LNG in Europe to the Far East. We need to balance that demand with appropriate investment,” said Ojulari.

He also pointed to the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) as a turning point, creating a more predictable fiscal and regulatory environment and paving the way for new investments by NNPC as well as major international oil companies.

“What the PIA has done has freed NNPC – we are now able to go to market and attract our own investment like any other private company,” said Ojulari, adding that crude pipeline availability in Nigeria reached 100% as of June, following major security interventions by both the government and private sector.