Nigeria’s Oil And Gas Investment Falls By $22 Billion, NUPRC Warns Of Capacity Gap

Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Investment Falls by $22 Billion, NUPRC Warns of Capacity Gap Nigeria’s annual oil and gas investment fell by about $22 billion between 2014 and 2023, dropping from approximately $24 billion to $2 billion, according to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission NUPRC. The more than 90 per cent decline in investment has raised concerns about the country’s ability to provide the skilled workforce needed as investment and project development begin to recover in the upstream sector. NUPRC Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, disclosed this at the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria OGTAN Human Capacity Development Conference and Expo at the Petroleum Training Institute in Effurun, Delta State. Eyesan said the prolonged investment downturn affected not only capital spending and exploration but also significantly weakened Nigeria’s pool of specialised professionals. According to her, geoscientists were among the first professionals to leave the industry when oil companies began cutting budgets. Petroleum engineers were subsequently affected, with some losing their jobs while others were restricted largely to maintenance activities as operators shifted from expansion to survival. She said the situation has become particularly important as renewed investment begins to generate demand for highly skilled professionals capable of handling modern oil and gas projects. The NUPRC chief said Nigeria must now develop expertise in areas such as advanced geoscience, digital drilling, digital twins, automation and real-time data analysis. She also called for changes to training curricula, saying educational institutions could no longer rely primarily on programmes designed for an earlier generation of petroleum operations. The renewed investment outlook follows reforms introduced under the Petroleum Industry Act PIA and other government measures aimed at improving the economics of upstream projects. President Bola Tinubu also signed a Deep Offshore Oil and Gas Projects Incentives Tax Remission Order in August 2026 to improve the viability of qualifying projects reaching final investment decisions. Despite the investment slump of the previous decade, recent indicators suggest a recovery is underway. A 2025 NUPRC update reported $39.98 billion in potential investments from 79 approved Field Development Plans in 2024 and 2025. Eyesan, however, warned that attracting capital alone would not be enough. Nigeria must rebuild its human-capital base and ensure that local professionals possess the technical and commercial skills required to compete in an increasingly digital energy industry. She said the next phase of Nigeria’s oil and gas development should focus not only on replacing professionals lost during the downturn but on creating a workforce capable of operating the digital oilfield of the future.