Nigeria’s bid to revive investment in its upstream oil industry is beginning to attract fresh international attention, with Indonesia’s state-owned oil company, Pertamina, positioning itself for the country’s 2026 oil licensing round.
Pertamina is considering investment opportunities in Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas sector, including producing assets and projects nearing final investment decisions, as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) works to draw more international capital into the industry.
The development follows discussions between NUPRC Chief Executive, Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, Indonesia’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arif Oegroseno, and Pertamina’s Vice-President for Upstream Business Development, Toriq Abdat.
The talks centred on investment opportunities in Nigeria and broader cooperation between the two countries as both seek to strengthen energy security and boost domestic oil production.
According to a statement issued Sunday by NUPRC Head of Corporate Communications and Media, Eniola Akinkuotu, Eyesan said Nigeria and Indonesia share similar priorities around energy security, resource utilisation and attracting investment.
The talks come as both countries push to raise output; Nigeria is targeting three million barrels per day by 2030, up from current production of about 1.6 million to 1.7 million barrels per day, while Indonesia, which produces roughly 600,000 barrels per day, is also looking to increase its own output.
Explaining Pertamina’s international expansion strategy, Abdat said declining domestic production and a shift toward gas discoveries have pushed the company to look beyond Indonesia.
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“We have been given a mandate to expand our business internationally… we found more gas than oil. That is why we go outside Indonesia, Malaysia, then the Middle East, Iraq and Nigeria,” he said.
Abdat added that Pertamina is particularly interested in assets that can deliver production relatively quickly, including existing producing fields and projects nearing production. “We would like to be in projects with governments.
Producing assets, or near production, or before FID. Now we are looking at how we can help you reach the 3 million, and also help us provide more energy for our own consumption,” he said.
Eyesan said Nigeria’s licensing rounds remain one of the key tools for expanding investment and lifting output toward its 2030 target. NUPRC has increasingly positioned licensing rounds as a regular feature of its acreage strategy rather than an occasional exercise.
The commission said its latest round drew about 300 companies for 50 available assets, with 196 applicants qualifying for bidding. At the close of bidding, 143 companies submitted 200 bids covering 37 assets, and NUPRC subsequently named 31 successful companies across 37 blocks, while 13 of the 50 blocks on offer received no bids.
The blocks span onshore, shallow-water, deep offshore and frontier basins, including the Benue Trough, Chad Basin, Anambra Basin and Benin Basin.
The Indonesian delegation also noted interest in opportunities beyond crude oil and gas, including a fertiliser plant Pertamina is building to reduce reliance on Middle Eastern supply amid disruptions linked to the current global conflict, given the overlap between oil and gas resources and fertiliser inputs like phosphate.
Nigeria, for its part, is diversifying its own phosphate sourcing, including a long-term transatlantic pipeline project with Morocco to serve West Africa, and has simplified fertiliser distribution rules that once involved about 160 layers of regulation.
The emerging interest from Pertamina is notable for an industry that has grappled in recent years with declining production, ageing assets, underinvestment, crude theft and regulatory uncertainty.
