Esso (ExxonMobil affiliates in Nigeria) has called for collaborative actions to enhance the competitiveness of Nigerian projects to attract global capital and investment.

Speaking at the Upstream Leadership Dialogue Session during the Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES) 2026, Chairman and Managing Director of ExxonMobil affiliates in Nigeria, Jagir Baxi, emphasised the need for Nigeria’s deepwater projects to be globally competitive to attract the necessary investment.

“Our strategy is to improve the competitiveness of our business in Nigeria so it can compete within our global portfolio,” Baxi said.

He noted that recent policy and regulatory reforms have laid a solid foundation, adding that it is now up to operators and partners to collaborate and turn these frameworks into project-specific definitions that can achieve bankable projects.

According to him, strengthening collaboration is critical to ensuring that Nigeria’s deepwater opportunities are structured in a way that makes them attractive within the highly competitive global capital allocation environment.

Baxi highlighted Esso’s efforts to improve reliability, performance, and lower cost of its Nigerian operations, enabling it to compete for funding globally.

He cited the example of the deepwater Usan field, where the company and its partners are preparing to commit $1 billion to capture 30,000 to 40,000 barrels of new production capacity, which will contribute meaningfully towards the national vision of two million barrels per day by 2027, and establish Usan as a hub for the development of adjacent discovered resources.

He added that the company is laser-focused on producing deepwater assets as well as discovered resources that can leverage the global strengths and capabilities of its parent company, ExxonMobil, to deliver multi-billion-dollar projects with global industry-leading performance.

Baxi stressed that with the right enablers, ExxonMobil stands ready to bring its global expertise and investment capabilities to Nigeria, supporting the country’s energy security, economic growth, and energy transition goals.

He added that the company’s initiatives have led to renewed partnerships and a commitment to co-creating solutions that will unlock opportunities such as Esso-operated Owowo and Bosi undeveloped fields, as well as supporting Esso interests in Bonga South West, which hold significant value.