Bayo Ojulari, the group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, has said that Nigeria must move beyond highlighting its vast gas reserves to tackling execution capacity, infrastructure, and human capital development if it hopes to transform its resource wealth into prosperity.
Speaking at a virtual industry forum, Ojulari noted that while Nigeria boasts one of the largest gas reserves in Africa, most discoveries were incidental finds during oil exploration rather than results of dedicated gas-focused campaigns.
This, he said, highlights the “huge untapped potential” still available in the country.
He stressed, however, that reserves on their own cannot guarantee economic growth. “Having reserves themselves does not translate to prosperity,” he said, adding that though the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has opened doors for investors, persistent challenges still discourage large-scale participation.
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Ojulari identified infrastructure gaps, security concerns, and unstable gas pricing as key issues that require urgent policy attention. According to him, infrastructure development is progressing too slowly, while improved security measures must be “codified” to build investor confidence.
Beyond infrastructure, the NNPC chief highlighted the limited execution capacity within Nigeria’s upstream and midstream sectors, noting that many major contractors and service providers are absent from the country.
“The operators are struggling. How do we enhance the execution capacity and attract those contracting companies and service companies that can help to deliver the agenda is a big topic on my mind,” he said.
He also flagged human capital as one of the least discussed but most critical constraints to growth. To meet President Bola Tinubu’s ambition of expanding gas production and driving industrialisation, Ojulari said Nigeria must urgently build technical capacity across the gas value chain, from exploration and production to marketing.
Ojulari further argued for targeted rather than generic incentives to drive investment into critical projects. Such incentives, he said, could be fiscal or operational, but must be structured to directly address the needs of investors.
The NNPC chief also called for stronger collaboration among industry players, warning that Nigeria’s fragmented approach has slowed progress and driven up costs.
He cited long-term drilling campaigns as an example of how collaboration could reduce costs and attract top-tier service companies. “If we continue to work in isolation, we will not get the economy of scale,” he cautioned.
Another critical gap, he said, is the lack of continuity in project execution. Previous patterns of back-to-back Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) enabled contractors to build fabrication yards and sustain trained manpower. But the stop-start nature of more recent projects has disrupted that momentum, eroding capacity and raising costs.
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Ojulari noted that Nigeria’s ability to unlock its gas potential lies in addressing these structural issues: scaling up execution capacity, building human capital, offering targeted incentives, ensuring security and policy stability, and driving collaboration.
“Without these, the country risks failing to convert its resource base into real economic growth.”
