The Federal Government has opened its 2026 Annual Oil and Gas Research Grant Competition and is asking Nigerian researchers to send in their proposals.
The Petroleum Technology Development Fund, which is running the programme on the government’s behalf, announced the call for proposals on November 13.
According to the agency, the competition is meant to build the country’s home-grown research capacity and to encourage solutions to the problems facing Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
Winning proposals will be awarded research grants, which will be paid out in instalments as project milestones are met.
Below is a guide to the eligibility requirements, research areas, proposal format and application process.
Who can apply?
PTDF listed the conditions that applicants must meet.
Applicants must be Nigerian citizens who live in Nigeria.
They must also work in an academic institution, a company, a research organisation or a non-governmental organisation.
The Principal Researcher on each proposal must be a senior academic.
The Principal Researcher must reside in Nigeria, although collaboration with Nigerians living abroad is allowed.
PTDF said it strongly encourages collaboration with industry professionals and organisations.
The agency added that multidisciplinary research teams have an advantage.
What research areas are eligible?
PTDF has set out eight research themes for the 2026 competition, and applicants are expected to build their proposals around challenges or opportunities within one of them.
1. Energy security, basin development and subsurface excellence
This theme covers artificial intelligence-driven seismic imaging, basin modelling, frontier-basin viability, deepwater systems, digital twins and source-rock modelling.
2. Sustainable production, enhanced oil recovery and asset integrity
The proposed research areas under this theme are smart wells, predictive maintenance, enhanced oil recovery, carbon dioxide injection, corrosion control, pipeline integrity, robotics and mechatronics.
3. Gas commercialisation, utilisation and flare reduction
This theme takes in gas-to-power, gas-to-liquids, mini-LNG and CNG systems, LPG and petrochemical processing, flare monetisation, gas-to-chemicals and the commercialisation of stranded gas.
4. Integrated technologies, renewables and low-carbon solutions
Research areas here include locally sourced solar photovoltaic materials, hybrid gas-renewable systems, offshore wind, battery storage, microgrids, hydrogen, geothermal energy, waste-to-energy, and carbon capture, utilisation and storage.
5. Environmental sustainability, circular economy and ESG
This theme covers bioremediation, pollution clean-up using nanotechnology, produced-water treatment, methane reduction, carbon accounting, waste recycling, biodiversity protection, oil spill detection and remediation, and host-community development.
6. Digital oilfield, automation and emerging technologies
Research areas under this theme include artificial intelligence and machine learning, industrial Internet of Things, robotics for inspection and drilling, cybersecurity, cloud and edge computing, autonomous operations, digital twins, blockchain, generative AI and large language models.
7. Facilities engineering, infrastructure, local content and industrial systems
This theme covers integrated facility management, reliability engineering, brownfield upgrades, energy-efficient operations, local fabrication, additive manufacturing, import substitution, and supply-chain and logistics systems.
8. Energy economics and finance, fiscal systems, policy analytics and human capital development
The final theme includes macroeconomic policy evaluation, oil price volatility, fiscal systems, Petroleum Industry Act modelling, investment optimisation, gas fiscal frameworks, energy-market forecasting, carbon pricing, green finance, stranded-asset risks and workforce development.
How to prepare the research proposal
PTDF requires every applicant to follow a prescribed proposal structure, and no proposal may be longer than 5,000 words.
Each proposal must contain a cover page, an executive summary, background and problem definition, literature review and gap analysis, research objectives, and methodology.
It must also include a research plan and timeline, a commercialisation and adoption plan, a research budget and justification, capacity-building components, references, tables and figures, and appendices.
On formatting, the agency says proposals must be typed in Times New Roman, font size 12, with 1.5 line spacing and margins of 2.54cm on all sides.
Citations and references must follow the APA 7 style.
Applicants are also warned not to include personal or institutional identifiers, such as names and logos, anywhere in their submissions.
How to apply
Eligible researchers can follow these steps to submit their proposals.
Step 1: Visit the application portal
Applicants should go to the official PTDF Oil and Gas Research Grant portal at
https://oilandgasresearch.ptdf.gov.ng
.
Step 2: Create an account
They should register on the portal to begin the application process.
Step 3: Select a research theme
They should choose the one of the eight research themes that best fits their proposed project.
Step 4: Prepare the research proposal
The proposal should be developed in PTDF’s prescribed structure, and it must address a relevant industry problem and include clear objectives, a methodology, a timeline, a commercialisation plan and a justified budget.
Step 5: Check the proposal requirements
Before submitting, applicants should confirm that the proposal meets the 5,000-word limit and the formatting and APA 7 referencing requirements, and should remove all personal and institutional identifiers, including names and logos.
Step 6: Submit the proposal
They should complete the required sections and submit the proposal electronically through the PTDF application portal.
Step 7: Monitor the application
After submission, applicants should watch the portal and their communication channels for updates on the assessment process, shortlisting and possible invitations to defend their proposals.
The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, February 10, 2027.
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