Oil investment drought: WIEN President demands enhanced participation

Sopuruchi Onwuka

President of Women In Energy Network (WIEN), Mrs Funmi Ogbue, has called on government’s policy drivers in the petroleum industry to urgently dismantle all entry barriers to enhance participation and diversify investment routes into the sector.

Mrs Ogbue who is the Managing Director of Zigma Energy Limited declared at the 2023 edition of the Nigerian International Energy Summit (NIES) that Nigeria has enormous local investment potentials that are currently overlooked in the ongoing drive for investments in the industry.

Her comments at the just concluded Nigerian International Energy Summit (NIES) followed keynote speech by the Chairperson of the board of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Senator Marjorie Okadigbo, who delivered a presentation on “Oil and Gas: The investment dilemma.”

Senator Okadigbo stated in her speech that Nigeria’s petroleum industry was suffering devastating investment apathy at a time of strong global demand and high prices, stressing the urgent need for the country to attract the right set of investments to recovery from prevailing production decline.

The NNPC chairperson noted that Nigeria has limited window to make investments in exploration and development in the face of predicted demand decline over climate concerns.

In the subsequent panel discussion on the issues raised by Senator Okadigbo whose appointment into the board of NNPC is related to advocacy demands by the WIEN, Mrs Ogbue hammered on the need for enhanced inclusivity and diversity in broadening the investment pathways into the Nigerian petroleum industry.

She made it clear that there is immense potential for local investors to assist in pulling in international investible capital into the Nigerian petroleum industry if given the required attention and access to participation.

In expanding the scope of issues in the discussion, Mrs Ogbue reminded the teeming audience of the worsening energy supply gap in the domestic economy and warned that time has come for the country to explore all sources of investment capital irrespective of the vessels that deliver the opportunities.

She narrated how attempts by Zigma Energy to pull in significant billion dollar investment into the country received insufficient attention and action from the responsible government agencies.

Mrs Ogbue made it clear that the governance structures that promote transparency and investor confidence are necessary to rekindle enthusiasm in investments, especially in the prevailing context of thin financing windows.

“Every section of the petroleum business has roles to drive investment in order to resolve the huge energy supply gap. And the objective of national prosperity would be realized when the resources are produced,” she told the conference.

Mrs Ogbue called on the NNPC to be flexible enough in spreading the opportunity for attracting funding and investment through collaboration of diverse parties involved in making the domestic environment congenial for businesses. She added that government must be open to all vessels seeking to deliver significant investments into the economy.

On inclusivity and diversity, Mrs Ogbue called for equal access to resources and easy entry processes. She called on regulators to dismantle all barriers to participation and guarantee equality and fairness for all players irrespective of gender.

She emphasized the need for improvement in the administration of mineral resources in the country, pointing at flawed cases that foist strange parties in venture partnerships, explaining that such practices cause take off delays and worsen default risks.

In her concluding remarks, Mrs Ogbue commended the efforts of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in building capacity for indigenous and local players. She called on other policy drivers in government to collaborate in building in-country capacity for efficient petroleum industry operations.

She also called for smoother interagency policy implementation strategies in a manner that would ensure that targets do not hinder participation.

Also on the panel was the Group Executive Director of Pan Ocean Oil Corporation and Newcross Group, Dr Bolaji Ogundare, who demanded that regulatory structures in government must derisk investments in the petroleum industry.

He supported the voice of Mrs Ogbue on the urgent need enhance equity, inclusion and governance structures in the industry. He advocated alternative and flexible financing approaches, including partnerships, carbon credit markets and regional development banks.

Dr Ogundare called on the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to evolve clear and detailed regulation for every operating process in the production channel. He also called o businesses in the industry to structure their borrowing plans to tap into Nigeria’s huge pension funds.

On inclusion, he called on the public sector of the industry to collaborate more closely and harmoniously with the private players.

Also supporting the tone of discourse, Mr Olu Ogunforowa of Argentil Capital made it clear that uncongenial operating and regulatory settings as well as complicated corporate structures repel international equity investors.

He called on the industry to build hedges against risks by adopting flexible operating and management processes in order to attract funding. He explained that hedges are critical for safety of all investing parties.