The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) said yesterday that about $17 billion worth of foreign investment came into Nigeria through the oil and gas sector in 2024.
 
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has approved the establishment of a modular refinery inside the Abia Industrial and Innovative Park (AIIP), located in the oil-rich Owaza, Ukwa West Local Council, according to Governor Alex Otti.  
 
The state oil firm linked the development to reforms within the sector by the NNPCL Executive Vice President (Upstream), Udy Ntia, and the scouting of investors at the 2025 CERAWeek by S&P Global in Houston, Texas. 
 
Africa’s upstream Capital Expenditure (CapEx) trends for 2022 to 2030 contained in the African Energy Chamber (AEC) outlook for 2025 showed that CapEx reached $47 billion in 2024.
 
Nigeria’s CapEx averages $10 billion to $12 billion yearly. This makes it the largest upstream spender due to its mature oil fields in the Niger Delta and offshore blocks. 
 
Although Ntia’s data cut across the entire segment of the oil sector, Nigeria experienced a level of divestment last year as well as Final Investment Decisions like Shell’s $5 billion Bonga project. Shell divested $2.4 billion to Renaissance Africa Energy; TotalEnergies divested over $900 million to Chappal Energies; while Eni divested over $800 million worth of assets to Oando. ExxonMobil’s $1.3 billion sale to Seplat Energy and Equinor’s $1.2 billion divestment to Chappal Energies are pointing to the readiness of African investors to control their assets.
 
Ntia urged global investors to explore opportunities in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, citing major regulatory reforms and investment-friendly policies.
 
Speaking on the theme, ‘Spotlight: Attracting Investment for Oil and Gas’, Ntia emphasised that Nigeria was strategically expanding its oil and gas industry to meet rising global energy demand, particularly in light of geopolitical tensions and evolving United States energy policies.

“For us in Nigeria, despite global energy security concerns, including those in Europe, we see significant opportunities. We have strategically positioned our assets to leverage the present strong price environment, which remained favourable over the past two to three years. As a result, we anticipate substantial investment inflows into the sector,” Ntia said.
 
He revealed that Nigeria recorded between $16 billion and $17 billion in foreign investment inflows in 2024, following the implementation of recent regulatory and policy reforms.

OTTI, while flagging off the construction of the 11.1-kilometre Obehie-Umudobia-Owaza road, a project aimed at unlocking the economic potential of the region, emphasised that the project was not just about access but about reviving economic assets, opening new opportunities, and restoring the dreams of the past.
  
“The reconstruction of this road is about more than just infrastructure; it is about reviving dormant economic assets and reigniting the aspirations that once defined this region,” he said.  He assured that the project would be completed within a year, and upon completion, it would enhance the marketability and viability of AIIP.
 
The governor vowed that, with the refinery, the long years of neglect of Ukwa, the state’s oil-producing area, ended for good and that significant changes had been set into motion in the area.
 
“Just a few days ago, we got the good news that the Federal Government has approved a modular refinery, which would be cited inside the AIIP, to be built by H.I.S. Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited,” he said, assuring that his government would support the creation of a robust industrial cluster that would accelerate the rapid socio-economic development of the area and fast-track the restoration of the years lost to poor leadership.
 
He added that Ukwa would not only get what is due to them at the resource allocation table but that the various levers of his administration would collaborate extensively with agencies like the Abia State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (ASOPADEC), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and other interventionist establishments to restore the years that were lost to the politics of exclusion and deceit.