Nigeria’s efforts to attract private-sector investment into refining, gas processing and other midstream and downstream petroleum businesses face infrastructure deficits, shortages of technical skills and high financing costs, industry stakeholders have said.

They spoke at the inaugural Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Journal Summit 2026 in Abuja, where operators, regulators, lawmakers and academics examined private-sector participation in the petroleum value chain.

In his keynote address, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited, Oladapo Filani, identified infrastructure, human capital and financing as major constraints affecting the economics of petroleum projects.

Filani said Nigeria’s challenge was no longer about producing skilled professionals but retaining them and creating opportunities for them to apply their expertise.

According to him, the country still faces constraints in gas gathering and processing, pipelines, storage and terminals, distribution infrastructure, refining support infrastructure and product logistics.

He said pipeline vandalism, theft and integrity problems continued to disrupt supply, while inadequate gas processing and evacuation infrastructure was limiting gas monetisation.

“These challenges are infrastructure deficits and reliability constraints; human-capital and technical-capability gaps; and financing, commercial viability and investment constraints,” Filani said.

He said the consequences included higher operating costs, supply disruptions, lower asset utilisation and weaker investment economics.

Filani called for greater use of shared infrastructure, including pipelines, gas processing, storage, power and logistics facilities, to serve multiple operators and end users.

He also identified gas as an input for power generation, refining, fertiliser production, petrochemicals, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas and gas-based manufacturing.

Filani called for stronger collaboration between PTDF and private-sector operators to address technical and human-capital gaps.

He said the sector needed engineers, project managers, process specialists and commercial professionals capable of operating increasingly complex petroleum assets.

Earlier, the Executive Secretary of PTDF, Prof. Shuaibu Shehu Aliyu, said investors were increasingly interested in refining, gas processing, logistics, storage and petroleum-products distribution but faced financing, infrastructure, regulatory, technology and technical-capacity challenges.

Aliyu said investment and infrastructure alone would not unlock the sector’s potential without appropriate policies, technical capacity, technology, research and collaboration among government, industry and academia.

He said research supported by PTDF should move beyond publication towards practical application, intellectual property development and commercialisation.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, also identified infrastructure gaps, high financing costs, project-development risks, regulatory bottlenecks and limited access to reliable energy infrastructure as constraints to private investment.

Represented at the event, the minister called for investment in gas processing, transportation and distribution infrastructure, alongside improved collaboration among government, investors, financial institutions and technology providers.

He also called for policy consistency, more efficient regulatory processes, improved security of critical infrastructure, innovative financing and greater indigenous technological capacity.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, represented by his Technical Adviser, Emmanuel Sinimie, said private-sector participation was necessary for the development of the petroleum sector.

He said reforms were aimed at improving regulatory certainty, adding that increased upstream activity would require corresponding investment in transportation, storage, refining and markets.

On his part, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Senator Eteng Williams, said private capital remained important for infrastructure, technology deployment and the expansion of refining, gas processing, petrochemicals and distribution.

Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Training Fund/PTDF), Ajilo Umar, urged the government to provide policy stability and called on the National Assembly to strengthen legislation and oversight.

He also urged financial institutions to provide longer-term capital for petroleum projects.