By Adeola Akinbobola
Stakeholders in Nigeria’s petroleum industry have called for infrastructure development, technology transfer and human-capital investment to accelerate growth in the country’s midstream and downstream petroleum sectors.
They spoke at the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Journal inaugural Summit 2026 held on Wednesday in Abuja.
The theme of the summit is: “Private Sector Participation in Nigeria’s Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Sector: Prospects, Challenges and the Way Forward.”
The Executive Secretary of PTDF, Prof. Shuaibu Aliyu, said Nigeria required appropriate policies, technical capacity, technology, research and stronger collaboration among government, industry and the academia.
Aliyu said that investment and infrastructure alone would not be sufficient.
According to him, opportunities are increasing across refining, gas development and processing, transportation, and other areas.
Aliyu explained that the summit was designed to take discussions beyond academic publication by creating opportunities for dialogue, collaboration and the development of practical solutions to challenges confronting the industry.
“The PTDF Journal Summit has been established as a platform for ongoing engagement on critical issues affecting Nigeria’s petroleum and energy sector.
“We anticipate that today’s discussions will yield practical ideas and recommendations that can inform policy, investment, research priorities, capacity development, and industry practice,” he said.
He called for stronger partnerships between industry and research institutions to ensure that research and innovation respond directly to the needs of the petroleum sector.
The executive secretary assured participants of the the Fund’s commitment to ensuring that research outputs moved beyond publication towards practical application, and commercialisation.
In his address, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr Ekperikpe Ekpo, said achieving the objectives of the initiative would require sustained investment in gas processing, transportation and distribution infrastructure.
He said that the Federal Government would need deeper collaboration with private investors, financial institutions, technology providers and other stakeholders.
According to the minister, infrastructure gaps, high financing costs, project-development risks, regulatory bottlenecks and limited access to reliable energy infrastructure are some of the challenges facing private investment.
He called for policy consistency, efficient regulatory processes, improved security of critical infrastructure and innovative financing mechanisms.
The minister also said that there was a need to develop indigenous technological capacity, local manufacturing and a skilled workforce capable of supporting the expansion of Nigeria’s petroleum industry.
In his goodwill message, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Sen Heineken Lokpobiri, said sustainable development of Nigeria’s petroleum sector required strong and vibrant private-sector participation.
Lokpobiri, represented by his Technical Adviser, Mr Emmanuel Sinimie, said the Federal Government’s ongoing reforms were designed to restore investor confidence, improve regulatory certainty and create conditions for sustainable private investment across the oil and gas value chain,
He also said major divestment transactions involving international oil companies, were creating greater opportunities for indigenous operators.
According to him, the gains recorded in the upstream sector must be matched by adequate infrastructure, efficient transportation and storage systems, increased refining capacity and competitive markets.
He said the emergence and expansion of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the growing number of modular refineries were examples of what private-sector investment can achieve in Nigeria’s downstream sector.
“There are reforms in domestic gas pricing, efforts to promote fair and non-discriminatory access to pipelines, depots and terminals, and initiatives to develop a West African refined-product pricing benchmark.
“These measures aim to create transparent and competitive midstream and downstream markets capable of attracting private investment,” he said.
He stressed the importance of local content in building sustainable Nigerian companies capable of competing at regional and global levels.
He called for sustained collaboration among government, regulators, investors, operators, financial institutions, academia and other stakeholders.
In his goodwill remarks, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Sen. Eteng Williams, commended PTDF for its contributions to human capital development.
“I also commend the Fund for producing generations of professionals who have contributed to Nigeria’s petroleum industry,” he said.
According to him, the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act has created a framework intended to encourage private capital investment in gas processing, refining, petrochemicals, and distribution.
He said the private sector remained essential to the development of infrastructure and the deployment of capital and technology.
He said Federal Government had the responsibility to provide an appropriate policy and legislative environment.
Eteng urged participants at the summit to focus on practical questions, including how to improve investor confidence, accelerate infrastructure development.
He said they should also focus on strengthening domestic refining capacity and ensure that private investment generates jobs, technology transfer and wider economic opportunities.
Williams also called for stronger collaboration among policy-makers, industry leaders and researchers in developing practical recommendations for the sector.
Mr Oladapo Filani, the keynote speaker and Managing Director of Waltersmith Petroman Oil Ltd., said PTDF’s next phase should go beyond producing trained professionals to ensuring that the Nigerian talents were retained, deployed and connected to real industry opportunities.
Filani said Nigeria had no shortage of talents but needed systems capable of keeping skilled professionals engaged to solve local problems.
He said there were three interconnected challenges confronting the midstream and downstream sectors.
“These challenges are infrastructure deficits and reliability constraints; human-capital and technical-capability gaps; and financing, commercial viability and investment constraints.
“Limited gas-processing and evacuation infrastructure, pipeline integrity issues and other infrastructure challenges are affecting operating costs, asset utilisation and investment economics,” he said.
Filani called for stronger partnerships between PTDF and private-sector operators.
He said PTDF could address human-capital and technical-capability constraints while private investment could support infrastructure development and commercialisation.
He said the country needed to move towards an industry-led competency-development model that identified the capabilities required over the next five years.
The keynote speaker called for an integrated energy ecosystem with gas serving as a platform for power generation, industry, refining, fertiliser production, petrochemicals, CNG, LNG and gas-based manufacturing.
Filani further called for greater development of shared infrastructure, including pipelines, gas-processing facilities, storage, power generation and logistics systems.
Also, Mr Ajilo Umar, the Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Training Fund/PTDF), urged government to provide policy stability, and the National Assembly to provide sound legislation and oversight, as well as financial institutions to provide long-term capital.
Umar represented the chairman of the House Committee on PRTF, Mr Thomas Ereyitomi. (NAN)
Edited by Ese E. Ekama-Williams
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