• Stakeholders say Tantita’s efforts key to new goal
By Michael Nwadike
In November 2005, a little over two decades ago, Nigeria’s crude oil production peaked at about 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd), making the country a major force within OPEC and the international oil market.
Subsequent years have seen a decline. despite post-Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), investment efforts, national output, including condensate, production has not gone beyond 1.7 million bpd.
But Nigeria is now working hard to ensure that the over two decades milestone is repeated through new investments and protection of oil assets.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), it was gathered, is leading the push to hit the 2.5 million barrels per day (mbpd) goal. Officials of the commission plan to revive dormant oil fields, unlock deepwater resources, and attract new foreign investments to the sector.
Many stakeholders insist that the sustenance of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Ltd (TSSNL) operations in the protection of national assets, especially oil pipelines in the Niger Delta region equally come handy in the quest to achieve these targets.
Analysts said that sustaining investments and increasing exploration activities were critical to achieving the target and boosting the nation’s reserves. It is equally important to develop a comprehensive framework for increasing production, expanding reserves and enhancing the sector’s contribution to national economic development.
Many have noted that achieving these feats requires sustaining on-going oil assets protection and security, infrastructure repairs as well as consistent industry reforms. The operations of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Ltd (TSSNL) in the Niger Delta region is also key, they insist.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had appointed Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL) led by High Chief Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo, otherwise known as Tompolo, to protect Nigeria’s oil assets in the Niger Delta region. The appointment was to enable TSSNL, through its security operations, support the national economy in getting the full benefits of oil resources.
The TSSNL works in collaboration with other security outfits to achieve its goals of securing oil assets and ensuring peace and stability in the Niger Delta region.
Tantita’s operations had ensured the security of oil pipelines, ensuring the uninterrupted flow of petroleum resources, and ensuring that Nigeria migrated from a position of constant loss management to stability, planning, growth and development.
The TSSNL operations have transformed the oil and gas landscape and allowed Nigeria to expand oil production quota and significantly cut rampant oil theft.
Its track record in mitigating risks associated with oil pipelines has positioned it as a reliable partner in preserving Nigeria’s economic backbone.
As stakeholders advocate for the continued collaboration with TSSNL, the imperative of securing oil infrastructure remains at the forefront of efforts to ensure the nation’s sustainable development.
In the development process of any society, certain assets contribute to the advancement of society and its people. These assets ensure economic or monetary benefits for the people. These assets could be regarded as operating assets, non-operating assets or leased assets, among others.
The impact of TSSNL’s operations was captured in a recent survey, with majority of the respondents attributing the de-escalation of security incidents in the Niger-Delta region to the pipeline surveillance operations executed by TSSNL.
President General, Niger Delta Progressive Alliance, Nse Victor Udoh, said pipeline protection enabled national institutions to progress from reactive crisis management to strategic foresight, from temporary containment to durable systems-building, and from uncertainty-driven decisions to calculated national ambition.
“It is important to clarify the role of pipeline surveillance within the wider energy landscape. Energy security encompasses the full value chain, from exploration and production to refining, distribution, pricing policy, and subsidy frameworks. Pipeline surveillance does not manage these domains,” he said.
He added: “Its mandate is precise: safeguarding critical infrastructure that transports petroleum resources. Yet this single function has proven foundational. Without secure transportation channels, production targets falter, refining plans collapse, exports decline, and fiscal projections become unreliable.
“Asset protection, in this context, is not a supporting activity. It is a precondition for economic order. In effect, the pipeline is the hinge on which the entire petroleum value chain turns. When that hinge is weak, every other link in the chain carries strain. When it is secure, the entire system gains coherence.”
The immediate impact has been operational. Sustained monitoring and rapid response systems have sharply reduced pipeline breaches and illegal tapping. Receipt rates have climbed toward full recovery, with national output rising to levels not seen in recent memory.
This redirection has restored Nigeria’s credibility in international oil markets, allowing Nigeria to reclaim market share lost to Angola and Libya.
“Economic stability follows predictability. When crude flows are secure, refineries can plan feedstock intake with assurance. Export commitments can be met without fear of sudden shortfalls. Gas-to-power projects can operate without recurrent shutdown risks”.
“Investors can assess Nigeria’s petroleum sector with clearer risk profiles. Surveillance therefore does more than stop theft. It reintroduces reliability into national energy planning. And reliability is the bedrock upon which sustainable economic growth is built. With predictable flows, national budgeting becomes more credible, infrastructure planning becomes more precise, and long-term contracts become easier to negotiate. Predictability is the silent currency of modern economies, and pipeline surveillance has begun restoring it,” he stated.
Further benefits extend into public finance. Higher accounted-for production translates directly into increased export revenues, improved foreign exchange inflows, and strengthened fiscal capacity. National oil company performance in recent years illustrates this shift toward profitability and efficiency, driven in part by reduced losses and enhanced operational continuity.
Investment opportunities in oil/gas sector
Report quoted Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Brittania-U, Catherine Uju Ifejika, as stating the importance of additional investment in mature assets, citing the company’s Ajapa field.
She said more than $400 million was invested after Brittania-U acquired the asset from Chevron, including the drilling of additional wells and deployment of a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading, FPSO, facility.
According to her, the investment enabled Ajapa to commence production at about 2,300 bpd in 2010, followed by increased and more stable output.
The new Nigerian incentives for offshore oil and gas projects have the potential to attract $50 billion in new investment in Nigeria’s offshore energy sector, the NUPRC said.
Nigeria, however, needs upskilled and additional numbers of skilled workers and employees, including in the digital industries, to take advantage of the new offshore opportunities, Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, Commission Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory stated at a human resources conference.
According to her, annual investments in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry have slumped to just $2 billion, from $26 billion back in 2014.
Nigeria has shown sustained growth in its crude and condensate output so far this year. Total oil output rose from 1.48 million bpd in February to 1.735 million bpd in June, according to the NUPRC.
Nigeria is actively increasing its crude oil production in response to major global supply disruptions caused by the war in Iran.
“Today we are attracting new investments and so we want to see an upward trajectory. It stands to reason that you must go back to the basics. First of all, we need the right competencies in sub-surface,” she said.
As part of the new investment drive, NUPRC has warned 31 companies that emerged winners of 37 oil and gas blocks in the 2025 Licensing Round to pay their signature bonuses within the stipulated period or risk losing their provisional awards.
The commission issued the warning exactly one month after it hosted the commercial bid conference in Abuja, where the successful companies emerged as winners of the available blocks.
The NUPRC said the process of compliance with the payment of signature bonuses had commenced following the issuance of provisional awards to the successful bidders.
“Exactly a month ago, the NUPRC hosted the 2025 commercial bid conference in Abuja where 31 companies emerged winners of 37 oil and gas blocks. Having issued the winners with the provisional awards, compliance with the payment of signature bonuses has already begun.
“Winners who fail to pay signature bonuses within the stipulated time frame in line with the Petroleum Industry Act will forfeit their bid guarantee and lose their provisional awards to the reserve bidders,” the NUPRC stated.
Under the Petroleum Industry Act and the applicable licensing guidelines, successful bidders are required to pay signature bonuses ranging from $3m to $7m per block.
They are also expected to provide the required guarantees, pay first-year rents and satisfy other post-award conditions within the prescribed period. Failure to meet the requirements will result in the automatic transfer of the affected award to the next-ranked reserve bidder, according to the NUPRC.
Deepwater investment revival
Nigeria’s push to revive investment in its deepwater oilfields gained fresh momentum as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and its partners signed agreements expected to move the proposed Bonga Southwest/Aparo project, estimated to attract up to $21bn in investment, closer to a Final Investment Decision.
The project, located in Oil Mining Lease 118, is expected to become one of Nigeria’s biggest new deepwater developments, with a projected peak production of about 175,000 barrels of oil per day and 140 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.
The NNPC Ltd and the OML 118 Contractor Parties, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited, executed an Addendum to the OML 118 Production Sharing Contract and an Addendum to the Dispute Settlement Agreement.
Also, President Bola Tinubu recently approved the Deep Offshore Oil and Gas Projects Incentives (Tax Remission) Order, 2026, designed to improve the competitiveness of Nigeria’s deepwater fiscal regime and unlock fresh investments.
The execution of the addenda showed how the policy reforms were beginning to translate into concrete project development.
The agreements provided evidence that the Federal Government’s reforms were beginning to create a pathway for major investments that had remained uncertain.
The project partners also announced the successful completion of the project’s Pre-Front End Engineering Design phase, another step towards taking the proposed development into the more detailed Front End Engineering Design stage.
The completion of the Pre-FEED work had helped to mature the technical and commercial scope of the project and positioned it for further engineering activities, subject to approvals and other governance requirements.
What it takes to achieve production goals
For many industry experts, Nigeria is expected to combine exploration with aggressive field development and enhanced recovery from existing assets.
According to them: “Exploration must be accompanied by aggressive field development, enhanced recovery from mature assets, improved security, infrastructure upgrades and faster regulatory approvals.
“Nigeria already possesses substantial proven reserves, and the greater challenge is converting those reserves into sustained production rather than simply discovering additional hydrocarbons.
“Unless these structural constraints are addressed, increased exploration spending alone is unlikely to deliver the higher crude oil output needed to boost government revenue, improve foreign exchange earnings and strengthen Nigeria’s position in the global oil market.
“Efforts should also be intensified to complete some planned oil and gas projects, including Bonga North, Southwest/Aparo,f Zabazaba, and Etan in order to enhance Nigeria’s oil output.
The post With new investments, oil assets protection, NUPRC target 2.5mbpd appeared first on The Sun Nigeria.