Heirs Holdings Chairman, Tony Elumelu, has stressed the need for increased oil production to fund Nigeria’s economic diversification and development.Speaking at the Nigeria Petroleum Industry Leadership Discourse in Abuja, he highlighted oil revenues’ role in industrialisation, energy security, and infrastructure.
The event, themed “Nigeria’s Oil Production Growth Roadmap: Acceleration Imperatives,” was hosted by Heirs Energies to unite industry leaders and policymakers on boosting oil output.
Elumelu, Chairman of UBA and Transcorp, emphasized that Africa’s priority is energy security despite global energy transition talks. He urged massive oil and gas investment to power industries, support businesses, and expand electricity access.Elumelu stressed increasing oil production to boost forex, stabilize the naira, and enhance security. He highlighted oil revenues’ role in industrialization and infrastructure, citing Transcorp Power’s 2,000MW capacity hindered by gas shortages.
He urged government-industry collaboration to raise oil output to 2.5–2.7M bpd, praising President Tinubu’s reforms for improving investor confidence.Elumelu revealed Heirs Energies grew OML 17 output from 21,000 to 53,000 bpd, targeting 100,000 bpd. He believes Nigeria can exceed 2M bpd with stakeholder commitment.
On refining, he said Heirs Energies plans downstream integration but is currently focused on oil production, noting crude supply eases entry into refining and petrochemicals.Elumelu stated that achieving Nigeria’s 2.5–2.7M bpd oil target is possible with a focus on production growth, security, and investment.
