Elumelu: Oil Revenues Key to Nigeria’s Economic Growth and Diversification

Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings, has called for a significant increase in Nigeria’s oil production to support economic diversification, infrastructure development, and national growth.

Speaking at the Nigeria Petroleum Industry Leadership Discourse in Abuja on Thursday, Elumelu highlighted the vital role oil revenues play in driving industrialisation and ensuring energy security. The event, organised by Heirs Energies under Heirs Holdings, focused on strategies to boost the country’s oil output.

Elumelu stated, “We need oil money to diversify Nigeria away from oil. We need to have the money to help develop our country.” While praising President Bola Tinubu’s administration for improving production levels, he urged efforts to raise output beyond 2 million barrels per day (bpd). “Under Buhari’s administration, we dropped below 1 million barrels. We are happy that under the current administration, we produce 1.8 million barrels of oil a day. But we are not satisfied with that figure. We want to take it over 2 million,” he said.

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Citing Heirs Energies’ success in increasing output from 21,000 bpd under Shell to 53,000 bpd, Elumelu underscored the potential of indigenous companies. He expressed a target of 100,000 bpd production and noted that boosting crude output could stabilise the naira, attract foreign exchange, and strengthen national security.

On refining capabilities, Elumelu revealed plans to expand downstream operations in the future, acknowledging that access to crude simplifies the transition into refining and petrochemicals.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, echoed Elumelu’s sentiments, expressing optimism about achieving the 2.06 million bpd benchmark set for the 2025 budget. “When I assumed office, production was around one million bpd. We have improved to 1.8 million bpd in January 2025,” he noted. Lokpobiri credited policy reforms and enhanced security measures for the increase, lauding the military and contractors for curbing pipeline vandalism.

The minister emphasised the government’s commitment to streamlining processes, with new executive orders cutting contract approval times from three years to immediate decisions for transactions below $10 million. “President Tinubu’s leadership has removed bottlenecks in the oil sector, ensuring that investments no longer stall,” Lokpobiri added.

Mr Gbenga Komolafe, CEO of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), pointed out that the Project 1 Million Barrels Additional Production, launched in October 2024, has already increased output from 1.5 million bpd to 1.75 million bpd. “We believe reaching 2.5 million bpd is achievable by reactivating idle wells and enhancing production efficiency,” he said.

Heirs Energies CEO, Mr Osa Igiehon, highlighted that indigenous firms now manage over half of Nigeria’s crude production, urging local operators to sustain output growth to meet national needs.