The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Engr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, has called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders in Nigeria’s energy sector to unlock Africa’s vast energy potential, saying strategic partnerships are critical to attracting investment, driving industrialisation and achieving sustainable economic growth.
Ojulari made the call while delivering the keynote address at the opening ceremony of the 25th NOG Energy Week held at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja, where he outlined major operational, commercial and financial milestones recorded by NNPC Ltd over the past year.
He disclosed that Nigeria’s crude oil production has increased to 1.71 million barrels per day, the highest level recorded in five years, while NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL) achieved a record output of 365,000 barrels per day.
According to him, NNPC Ltd also recorded an average recovery rate of 98 per cent across its five crude oil export terminals between April 2025 and May 2026, a remarkable improvement from the operational low of about one per cent recorded at the Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal in June 2022.
The NNPC GCEO further revealed that gas production rose to 7.5 billion standard cubic feet per day following the successful completion of the River Niger crossing on the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline and the commissioning of the ANOH Gas Processing Plant.
Ojulari said the company maintained 100 per cent compliance with all Joint Venture cash call obligations throughout 2025 and up to June 2026, while sustaining efforts to achieve the target of producing two million barrels of crude oil per day.
He also announced that since the last edition of the NOG Energy Week, NNPC Ltd has signed landmark Gas Sale and Purchase Agreements covering 1.29 billion standard cubic feet per day for long-term LNG feed gas as well as 750 million standard cubic feet per day for domestic industrial gas supply to DFL FZE and the Dangote Refinery.
According to him, the agreements are expected to attract more than 20 billion US dollars in investments, with seven additional commercial transactions already in the pipeline.
Ojulari noted that the company resumed full monthly remittances to the Federation Account in July 2025, reinstated monthly business performance reporting and hosted its first-ever earnings call in November 2025 as part of efforts to strengthen transparency, accountability and investor confidence.
He urged stakeholders across the energy value chain to move beyond transactional relationships and embrace strategic partnerships, integrated value chains and value-added industrial development capable of transforming Africa’s abundant energy resources into sustainable economic prosperity.
“At NNPC Limited, we see ourselves not just as an energy producer but as an ecosystem builder—connecting capital, technology, policy, talent and markets to create lasting value for Nigeria and Africa,” he said.
Ojulari identified fragmented collaboration as one of the major obstacles to Africa’s energy transformation, explaining that weak linkages among resource owners, operators, investors, innovators, policymakers and financiers continue to limit the continent’s ability to attract global investment despite possessing about 17 per cent of the world’s natural gas reserves and vast oil and renewable energy resources.
He therefore called on governments, national oil companies, investors, regulators, financial institutions, academic institutions and service providers to work together in positioning Africa as a globally competitive destination for energy investment, technology development and industrial growth.
“The future of African energy will not be determined solely by the resources beneath our soil, but by the quality of the partnerships we forge above it. The opportunity before us is extraordinary. The responsibility is ours. And the time to act is now,” Ojulari said.
The NOG Energy Week, now in its 25th edition, is Africa’s leading oil, gas and energy conference and exhibition, bringing together policymakers, global energy leaders, investors and innovators to deliberate on the future of energy, sustainability and industrial development across the continent.