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ABUJA – The Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG), Adegbite Falade, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “visionary leadership” for driving bold reforms in the oil and gas sector, while simultaneously calling for critical adjustments to secure the industry’s future.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the silver jubilee edition of the NOG Energy Week in Abuja, Falade highlighted the administration’s success in reversing declining production trends.
He noted that collaborative efforts have revived output from below 1 million barrels per day (bpd) a few years ago to an average of 1.6 million bpd between January and May.
“On investment, this administration has secured over $8 billion in major upstream Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) since 2023,”
Falade stated, referencing milestone projects like Shell’s Bonga North and TotalEnergies’ Ubeta. He added that Nigeria’s share of Africa’s total upstream FIDs has aggressively risen from 4% a decade ago to nearly 40% in the last two years.
Despite these historic gains, the IPPG boss warned against complacency. He noted that capacity constraints and delayed FIDs caused Nigeria to miss critical revenue windfalls during recent European and Middle Eastern geopolitical crises.
“The lesson from both crises is the same—the next geopolitical shock is not a question of if, but when,” Falade cautioned. “Let’s borrow a leaf from The Dangote Refinery by prioritising upfront investment in potent capacity. We must see infrastructure not just as an economic asset, but as a strategic national shield.”
To protect independent producers operating mature assets with thin margins, Falade urged the Federal Government to eliminate duplicating fees and levies across regulatory agencies, warning that the current fiscal burden threatens project viability.
He also flagged an emerging manpower crisis driven by IOC divestments and the retirement of legacy professionals as an “existential threat” to the industry. He stressed that aggressive human capital development “is not corporate social responsibility; it is at the very core of business survival.”
Advocating for a transition from mere commodity exporting to an integrated, gas-driven midstream and downstream value chain, Falade concluded by calling for a comprehensive review of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) five years after its enactment.
“This provides an opportunity to address the practical and commercial realities of the PIA… and strengthen the Act by codifying into law the Presidential Directives and Executive Orders,” he said, reaffirming that IPPG member producers stand ready as partners in rewriting Nigeria’s energy future.
