The abrupt resignation of Nigeria’s top petroleum regulator shortly after the launch of one of the country’s largest oil block auctions in years has sparked fresh concerns. Gbenga Komolage, head of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and Farouk Ahmed, head of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, have both resigned.
Their exits came after Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and the owner of the giant Dangote Refinery, criticized Ahmed for allowing cut-price fuel imports that threaten local refineries. Dangote submitted a petition against Ahmed with a leading anti-graft agency on Wednesday. However, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has nominated two people to replace the two, with the Senate expected to do so in the coming weeks.
Nigeria’s Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) recently launched its 2025 licensing round, offering 50 oil and gas blocks (onshore, shallow water, frontier, deepwater). The auction is expected to attract $10 billion in investment, boost reserves by 2 billion barrels, and increase production by 400,000 barrels/day, using a new digital, transparent process under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) designed to attract local and international investors and enhance energy security.
Nigeria has been struggling to meet its OPEC+ quota in recent years, thanks to years of underinvestment coupled with rampant theft and pipeline vandalism. Africa’s largest oil producer saw crude output average ~1.5 million bpd in 2024, well below its 1.8 million bpd target. In 2022, NNPC reported losing up to 95% of its production at the Bonny terminal to theft, driven by widespread illegal connections. However, government interventions have helped reverse this trend: Nigeria’s crude production jumped from 1.1 mbpd in 2022 to 1.83 mbpd in October 2025, reclaiming its place among the continent’s top producers thanks to the government’s new laws, fiscal incentives, and efforts to combat theft and vandalism.
Meanwhile, Western energy majors including Shell Plc (NYSE:SHEL), Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX), TotalEnergies SE (NYSE:TTE) and Seplat Energy Plc have increased gas output in Nigeria in a bid to strengthen the country’s electricity supply for industries and households. Average daily electricity generation clocked in at 5,700 MW in the final quarter of 2025, good for a nearly 40% increase from two years ago.
By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com
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