…Independents claim half of output
Nigeria’s indigenous oil producers are tightening their grip on the country’s upstream sector, and Oando Energy Resources is cementing its position at the centre of that shift.
Ainojie Irune, Oando’s managing director, reaffirmed Oando’s commitment to the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) and to the broader project of building a domestically led oil industry , signaling that local operators have no intention of ceding the momentum they have spent a decade accumulating.
The statement came during a high-level visit by Adegbite Falade, chairman of IPPG and managing director and chief executive of Aradel Holdings, to Oando’s Lagos offices.
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The two sides used the meeting to map out deeper collaboration among indigenous producers and to sharpen coordinated advocacy as local operators shoulder a growing share of Nigeria’s oil and gas output.
“Today, IPPG members account for more than half of national production. Oando is a solid part of that story and has consistently strengthened our collective voice in external engagements,” Falade said.
A decade ago, international oil majors set the production agenda. Today, IPPG member companies collectively produce the majority of the country’s crude, reshaping both the economics and the politics of the sector.
Falade credited Oando with being a consistent and vocal participant in shaping that transformation, noting the company’s role in advancing the group’s positions in external engagements.
He also acknowledged the backing of Wale Tinubu, Oando Plc’s group chief executive, and Omamofe Boyo, deputy group chief executive, specifically praising the company’s contribution of resources and personnel toward IPPG’s tenth anniversary activities, a gesture Falade described as emblematic of Oando’s long-term investment in industry development rather than short-term optics.
For Irune, the meeting was an occasion to articulate a strategic philosophy that has guided OER’s recent trajectory.
In his remarks, he described disciplined execution, strong governance, and coordinated advocacy as the three pillars on which indigenous operators must build if they are to sustain production growth and maintain industry stability through an increasingly volatile regulatory and market environment.
Nigeria’s petroleum sector has long been dogged by questions of institutional capacity among domestic players, and the rapid consolidation of production in the hands of indigenous companies has intensified scrutiny of whether those companies can manage complex assets safely and efficiently at scale.
Falade used the visit to press for a more assertive posture from member companies on policy.
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He argued that the next phase of IPPG’s evolution should be defined by deliberate engagement with regulators and lawmakers, ensuring that rules governing the sector reflect the operational realities of local producers rather than frameworks inherited from an era dominated by foreign majors.
Irune welcomed what he described as the strengthening of IPPG’s leadership structure, framing robust institutional frameworks as indispensable as the industry adapts to evolving regulatory, operational, and market dynamics.
