The Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, disclosed this on Monday at the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) Conference in Lagos.
Verheijen said the government aims to revitalise the oil and gas sector through “performance-based stewardship,” stressing that achieving the 3 million barrels per day target requires stronger accountability and efficiency within the NNPC.
She revealed that NNPC Exploration & Production Limited (NEPL) currently produces only 220,000 barrels daily, representing less than 10 per cent of Nigeria’s total output. According to her, this low performance raises doubts about NNPC’s capacity to fund and execute drilling campaigns independently.
“If NNPC cannot deliver the growth we need, then we must have the courage to restructure asset ownership and invite credible operators with technical capacity, financial strength, and governance discipline,” she said.
Verheijen also outlined the administration’s “four R’s” strategy — Reserves, Revenues, Reliability, and Responsibility— which she said will guide reforms across the energy sector. She highlighted that President Tinubu’s administration has already unlocked over $8 billion in final investment decisions and has a clear path to another $20 billion through gas commercialisation and infrastructure expansion.
Chairman of NNPC Limited, Ahmadu Kida, in his remarks, reaffirmed that the company’s goal is to become Africa’s leading energy company within five years, promising improved transparency and performance.
