• Insists power sector N4tn financial reset will restore investor confidence
•FG’s import duty exemptions for LPG infrastructure hits $92.6m in two years
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
Nigeria requires about $38.3 billion in additional financing to sustain current oil and gas production, and achieve its 2030 output targets, Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, has said.
Speaking at the 25th Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) Energy Week Conference and Exhibition in Abuja, Verheijen said the huge funding gap could only be bridged by creating a stable, competitive, and investor-friendly environment capable of attracting both domestic and international capital.
According to her, while Nigeria has made significant progress in reforming its energy sector, financing remains one of the biggest challenges to unlocking the country’s full oil and gas potential.
Verheijen stated, “For Africa, that question is urgent. And for Nigeria, the scale of the task is equally clear: to sustain the current base and grow toward our 2030 production target, analysis shows a financing gap of about $38.3 billion.”
She stressed that the financing requirement could neither be met through rhetoric nor by Nigeria acting alone, but by the enactment of credible rules, deployment of bankable projects, using competitive costs, as well as predictable regulation.
She explained, “That gap cannot be closed by rhetoric, and it cannot be closed by Nigeria alone. And that capital from Lagos, Johannesburg, London, Houston, Abu Dhabi or Beijing is asking for the same thing: credible rules, bankable projects, competitive costs, predictable regulation, and disciplined execution. That is a warning and an opportunity.”
Verheijen stated that global investment capital had become increasingly selective, flowing only to countries with clear policies, regulatory certainty, and credible institutions.
She maintained that the administration of President Bola Tinubu had responded by implementing difficult reforms aimed at improving Nigeria’s investment climate and positioning the country as a competitive destination for energy investments.
According to her, the reforms have included recalibrating fiscal terms, clarifying regulations, streamlining oversight, introducing targeted incentives, and reducing contracting timelines by more than half.
Highlighting the impact of the reforms, Verheijen disclosed that Nigeria now had more than $50 billion worth of upstream projects in its visible investment pipeline, while over $10 billion in long-delayed Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) had been secured within the past three years.
She also revealed that crude oil and condensate production had increased by about 400,000 barrels per day since 2023, with onshore production reaching its strongest level in two decades.
She stated, “We are targeting three million barrels per day and 10 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day by the end of the decade.
“We now have more than $50 billion of upstream projects in the visible pipeline. In the last three years, more than $10 billion of long-awaited final investment decisions have come through.”
Verheijen added that Nigeria’s share of Africa’s upstream FIDs had risen sharply, while the country’s external reserves had exceeded $50 billion, describing the developments as evidence that investors are responding positively to policy reforms.
On electricity, Verheijen said the administration’s N4 trillion Presidential Power Sector Financial Reforms Programme was designed to restore confidence across the power value chain by addressing legacy debts owed to Generation Companies (Gencos), gas suppliers, and financiers.
She described the initiative as “a four trillion credibility programme” rather than simply a financing exercise.
“It says to Gencos: produce with confidence. It says to gas suppliers: supply with confidence. It says to lenders and investors: Nigeria is rebuilding the bankability of the power value chain,” she explained.
The presidential adviser also underscored the importance of natural gas to Nigeria’s industrialisation agenda, describing it as the backbone of power generation, fertiliser production, petrochemicals, compressed natural gas mobility, and cleaner household cooking.
She admitted that rising cooking gas prices had become a concern, warning that a gas-rich country should not allow households to revert to firewood, charcoal, and kerosene because of affordability challenges.
To tackle the situation, she said the government was expanding domestic LPG supply, strengthening market surveillance, rebuilding import buffers, where necessary, and implementing transparent pricing mechanisms.
Besides, Verheijen disclosed that the VAT Modification Order 2024 had zero-rated LPG and exempted cylinders, regulators, conversion kits and installation services from VAT, while the government had supported import duty exemptions for LPG infrastructure worth about $92.6 million, including $30.4 million approved this year.
She maintained that the incentives formed part of broader efforts to ensure that gas powered industries, improved electricity supply, and made clean cooking more affordable for Nigerians.
Verheijen stated, “Since January 2024, our office has supported Import Duty Exemption Certificates for LPG infrastructure worth about $92.6 million, including about $30.4 million this year alone.
“These incentives are not isolated measures; they align with the Decade of Gas, NNPC’s gas strategy, and the Presidential CNG Initiative.”
