Nigeria needs oil money to boost diversification – Elumelu

The Chairman of Heirs Energies, Mr Tony Elumelu, has stressed the need for increased oil production to fund Nigeria’s economic diversification and development.

Speaking on Thursday in Abuja at Heirs Energies’ Nigeria Petroleum Industry Leadership Forum, Elumelu emphasised the importance of oil revenues in driving industrialisation, energy security, and infrastructural growth.

 The forum brought together key industry players, including representatives from OPEC, SEPLAT, Shell, Oando Energy, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, to discuss strategies for increasing Nigeria’s oil production.

Elumelu stated that massive investment in oil and gas was necessary to power industries, support businesses, and ensure access to electricity for households and enterprises.

He noted that he was no longer a banker but an investor, adding that his company, Heirs Energies, which acquired OML 17 from Shell a few years ago, currently produced 53,000 barrels of oil per day.

The financial expert expressed concerns about Nigeria’s oil production levels, stating that while output had improved under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, the country was still underperforming compared to its OPEC quota.

 “You know, under Buhari’s administration, we dropped less than one million barrels. We are happy that under the current administration, in general, we produce 1.8m barrels of oil a day. But we are not satisfied with that figure.

 “We want to take it to over two million. Because we know that we need oil money to diversify Nigeria away from oil. And we need to have the money to help develop our country,” he said.

Elumelu said that increasing oil production was key to generating foreign exchange, stabilising the naira, and improving national security.

The billionaire investor further urged stronger collaboration between the government, industry players, and investors to achieve the target of increasing oil production to 2.5m barrels per day.