By: Goodluck E.Adubazi, Abuja.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has opened discussions with Indonesia on potential petroleum investments, with Indonesia’s national oil company, Pertamina, expressing interest in Nigeria’s 2026 oil and gas licensing round.
The development followed a meeting between NUPRC Chief Executive Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, Indonesia’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arif Havas Oegroseno, and Pertamina Vice President for Upstream Business Development, Toriq Abdat.
Eyesan said Nigeria and Indonesia share similar priorities, particularly in energy security, resource utilisation and attracting investments into the oil and gas sector.
Nigeria currently produces about 1.6–1.7 million barrels of crude oil per day and has set a target of three million barrels per day by 2030, while Indonesia produces about 600,000 barrels daily and is targeting 2.3 million barrels per day by 2030.
Speaking during the engagement, Abdat said Pertamina had been mandated to expand its international operations, noting that the company is already exploring opportunities in several countries, including Malaysia, Iraq and Nigeria.
“We have been given a mandate to expand our business internationally. We are now in other countries outside Indonesia,” Abdat said.
He explained that Pertamina was seeking producing assets, projects close to production and opportunities that are at the stage preceding a final investment decision.
“We would like to be in projects with governments—producing assets, or near production, or before FID,” he said.
Abdat added that Pertamina was interested in helping Nigeria achieve its production target while also securing additional energy supplies for Indonesia.
Responding, Eyesan said Nigeria’s three-million-barrel-per-day target remained ambitious, stressing that the country’s licensing rounds were among the strategies being deployed to increase upstream investment and production.
“We have very aggressive targets, three million barrels per day by 2030, and today we are at 1.6, 1.7,” Eyesan said. “We are committed to the objective and the licensing round is one of the strategies we are utilising.”
According to the NUPRC chief executive, licensing rounds have now become a recurring exercise in Nigeria following their institutionalisation under the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.
She noted that the most recent commercial bid conference, held in July, featured 50 assets, with 37 subsequently awarded.
Eyesan also said Nigeria had reviewed its fiscal terms in response to increasing competition for international investment capital, adding that entry barriers, including signature bonuses, had been reduced to make investments more attractive.
Beyond crude oil and natural gas, the Indonesian delegation disclosed that it was exploring opportunities in fertiliser production and broader food security.
The delegation said Pertamina was developing a fertiliser plant to reduce Indonesia’s dependence on supplies from the Middle East amid disruptions associated with global conflicts, noting that food security was closely linked to the oil and gas industry because phosphate and other key fertiliser inputs are connected to energy and resource production.
Nigeria, meanwhile, is diversifying its phosphate sourcing, including through a long-term transatlantic pipeline project with Morocco aimed at supporting fertiliser supply across West Africa.
The country has also simplified fertiliser distribution rules that previously involved about 160 layers of regulation.
The meeting ended with both sides agreeing to sustain the commercial and diplomatic engagements in parallel as Nigeria seeks to attract fresh upstream investments and Indonesia expands its international energy footprint.
