| Says country committed to being globally competitive
The federal government has assured investors that it will soon resolve the lingering problem of more than 270 taxes, levies andñ regulatory charges burdening Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, saying the country remains committed to becoming globally competitive.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, gave the assurance at the opening of the 2026 Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) Energy Week on Tuesday in Abuja.
He disclosed that the federal government had commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), in collaboration with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), to benchmark Nigeria’s fiscal charges against those of competing oil-producing countries.
According to him, the exercise is part of the Tinubu administration’s efforts to make Nigeria’s petroleum industry more competitive and attract fresh investment.
Lokpobiri said operators currently contend with about 270 different taxes, fees and regulatory charges, many of which generate little revenue individually but create significant administrative bottlenecks.
“Sometimes when you hear that we have about 270 taxes, some of them are just a few cents. Instead of making companies process about 270 invoices, why don’t we aggregate them? The report will soon be ready, and I believe it will solve that problem once and for all,” he said.
He added that the initiative forms part of broader reforms to improve the ease of doing business, noting that the government has continued to respond to concerns raised by industry stakeholders.
Earlier, the chairman of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG), Adegbite Falade, described Nigeria’s oil and gas industry as one of the most heavily taxed in the world, saying it was weighed down by more than 270 taxes, fees and levies.
Falade warned that the cumulative burden of multiple charges was eroding the incentives created under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and weakening Nigeria’s competitiveness.
He said the situation posed a direct threat to smaller producers and operators of mature assets with thinner profit margins, potentially leading to reduced investment and asset abandonment.
Falade urged the government to harmonise charges across regulatory agencies, eliminate duplication and create a transparent and predictable fiscal regime capable of supporting investment, production growth and job creation. He also called for a comprehensive review of the PIA to address implementation challenges and incorporate presidential directives that have improved the investment climate.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, declared that Nigeria is open for business, saying ongoing reforms, fiscal incentives and strategic infrastructure projects are positioning the country as a globally competitive destination for gas investment.
“Our message to the global investment community is unified and resolute: Nigeria is open for business, and we have established a stable, competitive and highly predictable investment environment,” Ekpo said.
He said the federal government was transforming Nigeria from a country with vast gas reserves into one that uses gas to drive industrialisation, energy security and economic growth.
Ekpo noted that Nigeria’s 215 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, the largest in Africa, would support domestic industries, fertiliser and petrochemical plants, transportation and clean cooking initiatives under the Decade of Gas programme.
He highlighted ongoing projects, including the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) and OB3 gas pipelines, as well as new gas processing facilities aimed at expanding domestic supply, reducing gas flaring and increasing the availability of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
The minister also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to expanding Nigeria’s liquefied natural gas export capacity through the NLNG Train 7 project, which is expected to increase production from 22 million to 30 million tonnes per annum upon completion.
He added that the government was accelerating the National Clean Cooking Programme, targeting five million households by 2030, alongside the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Initiative aimed at reducing transportation costs and expanding domestic gas utilisation.
Reinforcing the reform agenda, the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Olu Verheijen, said Nigeria was now competing for investment on the strength of policy credibility rather than the size of its hydrocarbon reserves.
“The competition is no longer geology against geology. It is government against government. It is rules against rules. It is delivery against delivery,” she said.
Verheijen disclosed that reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration had already attracted more than $10 billion in Final Investment Decisions (FIDs), while projects worth over $50 billion were currently in the pipeline.
She added that Nigeria’s crude oil and condensate production had increased by more than 400,000 barrels per day, while external reserves had exceeded $50 billion, stressing that investors now prioritise bankable projects with predictable returns.
Meanwhile, Lokpobiri reaffirmed support for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited’s renewed efforts to rehabilitate the country’s refineries.
He recalled that NNPC Ltd recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with two Chinese firms—Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xinganchen (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Co. Ltd—for a potential technical equity partnership to support the completion and operation of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.
