The Nigerian oil and gas industry is battling serious investment and operational setbacks caused by excessive bureaucracy and a complex regulatory framework, according to Neconde Energy Limited, one of the country’s leading indigenous oil producers.
Speaking during a panel session at the Nigerian Oil and Gas (NOG) 2025 Conference held in Abuja, the acting Managing Director and Gas Asset Manager of Neconde, Mrs. Chichi Emenike, lamented that the regulatory environment—particularly on gas pricing and the multiple fees levied by government agencies—was pushing investors away and weakening sector growth.
According to Emenike, most of the funds currently sustaining Nigeria’s oil and gas operations are sourced privately, as public-sector support remains slow and unpredictable. “Financing is not charity,” she stated. “Investors want assurance that they can recover their money with profit. Uncertainty caused by government policies, delays, and too many charges makes that difficult.”
She stressed that while President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration has made promising statements about reforming the sector, these must translate into tangible changes on the ground to restore investor confidence. “We welcome the pronouncements,” she said, “but we need to feel the impact where it matters—at the operational level.”
A key area of concern highlighted by Emenike is the regulation of gas pricing. She noted that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), though intended to modernise the sector, still grants the government control over certain gas prices. According to her, this discourages private investment in gas infrastructure and upstream development.
“Some provisions of the PIA still allow price regulation by the state, especially in the domestic gas market,” she said. “This erodes investor confidence and strangles progress. We need full liberalisation, just as we saw in the telecoms industry years ago.”
Emenike urged the Federal Government to take bold steps towards deregulating gas pricing and allowing market forces to determine fair value. She said this would attract new capital, encourage competition, and drive innovation in Nigeria’s vast untapped gas reserves.
She also called for a cost-reflective tariff system for gas-to-power projects to fix the longstanding issue of illiquidity in the electricity sector. According to her, many gas producers struggle to receive payments from power companies due to artificially low tariffs set by regulators. “Gas producers are owed huge sums. It’s difficult to keep producing when you’re not getting paid. We need a model where producers get fair value for their gas,” she said.
Beyond pricing, Emenike raised alarm over the multiplicity of fees charged by various government bodies such as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and others. She explained that these fees often overlap and add unnecessary costs to exploration and production activities.
She urged the government to streamline regulatory processes, remove redundant charges, and ensure that agencies coordinate rather than duplicate each other’s responsibilities.
Despite these challenges, Neconde Energy says it has managed to record significant growth. The company, which operates the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 42 in the Niger Delta, has scaled up production from 10,000 barrels per day to 50,000 barrels per day. The OML 42 asset covers a vast area of 814 square kilometres and includes both oil and gas reserves.
Emenike disclosed that the company plans to make a Final Investment Decision (FID) before the end of 2025 regarding the development of its larger gas reserves. This move is aimed at contributing to Nigeria’s goal of expanding its proven gas capacity and leveraging its position as a gas-rich nation in Africa.
“We are ready to grow, but the investment environment must support us,” she said.
The comments from Neconde Energy come amid a wider push by the Nigerian government to end gas flaring by 2030 and position gas as the country’s transition fuel. Nigeria has one of the largest proven gas reserves in the world, yet it struggles with underinvestment and infrastructure gaps that hinder effective exploration, production, and utilisation.
Stakeholders at the NOG 2025 conference echoed Emenike’s concerns and called for urgent implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act, with an emphasis on transparency, investor incentives, and effective coordination among government agencies.
Industry experts believe that without practical steps to address regulatory and operational bottlenecks, Nigeria risks falling behind other oil and gas-producing nations in Africa and losing out on billions of dollars in potential investment.
As global energy dynamics shift towards cleaner alternatives and energy security becomes more urgent, the consensus among participants at the conference was that Nigeria must act decisively to unlock its gas potential and become a hub for investment, production, and export.
