NNPC Limited has said recent reforms in the oil and gas sector have attracted over $24 billion in new investments, with an additional $10 billion currently in the pipeline, as Nigeria pushes toward its three million barrels per day production target.
The Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, disclosed this on Thursday at the 2026 Oloibiri Lecture and Energy Forum in Abuja, where industry stakeholders gathered to discuss the future of the country’s upstream oil and gas sector.
The lecture was themed: “Beyond the Three Million Barrels Target: Harmonising Digitalisation, Capital and Policy Frameworks for Intelligent Operations and Asset Optimisation.”
Organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers Nigeria Council, the Oloibiri Lecture and Energy Forum brings together policymakers, industry leaders, and academics to drive innovation and sectoral growth.
Ojulari, who was represented by the Executive Vice President, Upstream, Udobong Ntia, said that the resolution of long-standing disputes and the unlocking of previously stalled Final Investment Decisions had significantly strengthened investor confidence in the sector.
He also said the national oil company is scaling up artificial intelligence pilots and digitally mining decades of legacy data to reduce operating costs and support Nigeria’s drive toward a 3 million barrels per day production target.
He said, “Shortening the project cycle is very important. It would help us a lot. The resolution of long-standing issues, including legacy asset disputes and previously stalled FIDs, has unlocked significant investor confidence. These interventions have contributed over $24bn in capital investment from just two projects.”
“I haven’t even added Owowo. There is an extra $10bn in the works and some others that we are looking at very closely. Bosi has just passed gate one with the operators. Who knew Bosi would be headline news? There is a lot to look forward to.”
The NNPC boss said Nigeria now has a potential investment pipeline of about $34 billion, combining both confirmed and prospective inflows, describing it as a strong indicator of renewed global confidence in the country’s oil and gas sector.
Ojulari, stressed that beyond securing funding, Nigeria must urgently accelerate digital transformation, warning that failure to adopt artificial intelligence could leave operators uncompetitive in the evolving global energy landscape.
“I’ve been preaching AI for a long time, and it has now become an imperative. If we don’t do it, we’re going to be buried, frankly. It is no longer a nice-to-have. It is an absolute necessity. We have spent a lot of money digitising our data, but if we don’t mine it, we will lose one of the most critical variables in the oil industry—data. We have to learn how to mine it.
” We have to do it as an imperative; otherwise, our costs will balloon out of this world. There’s so much we can do, and we need to stay focused on that. The theme before us, beyond the 3 million barrels target, is both timely and instructive. It recognises that reaching and sustaining 3 million barrels per day is not merely a production aspiration but a commercial, regulatory, and capital and digital opportunity. It is not just the operators that need to move in that direction; it is also the service providers,” he added.
Ojulari set out a three-pronged strategy to meet its production target, focusing on safeguarding existing assets, boosting short-term output growth, and restructuring its portfolio to attract fresh investment.
He said the approach is aimed at strengthening operational resilience while improving the company’s appeal to investors.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said Nigeria already has the technical capacity to transform its energy sector but must now demonstrate stronger execution. He noted that “the intelligence is already there,” adding that what remains is political will, which he said has been provided by President Bola Tinubu through executive orders and reforms.
He described the Petroleum Industry Act as a turning point for the sector, saying it has created a more transparent and investor-friendly environment. According to him, the law represents “a watershed,” providing clarity, predictability, and a framework that supports innovation and long-term value creation.
