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Oando Aims to Boost Output by 300%, Raise $750m for Oil Drilling

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Oando Plc plans to raise up to $750 million this year for a drilling campaign that could boost output by 300%.

The oil and gas company is hoping to tap the improved investor appetite for West African producers amid turmoil linked to the Iran war, its Chief Executive Officer, Wale ‌Tinubu told Reuters.

Oando is among a handful of local companies that have snapped up assets from oil majors in the past decade as they exit Nigerian onshore.

This year, surging energy prices should open more funding sources for producers in the region, Tinubu said

“We are pushing very, very hard towards getting the financing that we need to do an extensive drilling campaign,” Tinubu said.

Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer, with crude and condensate output of around 1.6 million barrels a day.

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Oando, whose production averaged just over 32,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in ⁠fiscal 2025, aims to drill as many as 100 wells to boost output, particularly from assets purchased from Western majors ConocoPhillips and Eni (ENI.MI), opens new tab.

While in the past the company had struggled with securing cash for drilling due to investor worries that Africa was an “unsafe environment”, the Iran war and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 have shifted that view, Tinubu said.

“Africa is very, very peaceful compared to these regions,” he said.

Already, Tinubu said there was a shift in demand for Nigeria’s crude, with more cargoes sailing to Asia to replace Gulf oil trapped due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Oando has raised $3 billion-$4 billion in the past decade, much of it from European banks, the CEO said, the bulk of which went toward acquisitions.

European banks had now almost completely withdrawn from African hydrocarbons due to climate concerns, he said, pushing Oando to funders including the African Export-Import Bank and the African Finance Corporation, and to oil trading houses ‌including Vitol, ⁠Trafigura, Glencore and Mercuria.

However, Africa needed more “substantial long-term funding”, he added.

More Gulf banks were interested in hydrocarbon projects in Africa and more parties were joining their syndications, while private equity funds and hedge funds were also more active in funding African energy, he said.

Oando recently expanded into Angola, and Tinubu said they are exploring opportunities in Ghana and Ivory Coast. Africa should pool capital available at home, via pension funds and other sources, to fund large-scale capital projects, he added.

Geopolitical turmoil will have “long-reaching strategic implications for global ⁠energy security”, he said, and keep focus on West Africa’s reserves.

“Even if the ceasefire lasts, which, hopefully it will, it wouldn’t change the fact that consistently, you’re going to find disruptions,” he said.

Nigeria, Tinubu said, was well placed to draw funding after a landmark 2021 overhaul of its hydrocarbon law and reforms by current President ⁠Bola Tinubu, his uncle, to currency and costly petrol subsidies.

The new 650,000 barrel-per-day Dangote oil refinery on the outskirts of Lagos, Tinubu said, highlighted the value of Nigeria’s resources.

Tinubu, whose company was once among the nation’s largest fuel importers, said imports were now only needed to test for pricing or during refinery maintenance.

Longer term, ⁠Tinubu hopes to exploit some of Oando’s own gas production for petrochemicals and fertilizers to further boost the value added to Nigerian resources.

The company was working to “streamline” financials to avoid further delays in filing audited statements with the Nigerian Exchange after deadline extensions, which opened a new tab in recent years.

In August, Oando’s board signed off on a proposal to launch a multi-instrument issuance programme of up to $1.5 billion.

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NMDPRA Issues Updates on Q3 Crude Supplies to Domestic Refineries

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From January to September 2026, the domestic refineries in Nigeria received 156.52 million barrels of crude oil.

Of the volume, 125.85million barrels (80.4 percent) were sourced from in-country while 30.66 million barrels (19.6 percent) were imported.

This was contained in the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Factsheet September 2026 released on Thursday.

The Factsheet specifically revealed that in September 2026, 38.7 million litres of the Premium Motor Spirit PMS (petrol) were received per day, crashing from the 50.5million litres per day received in August by 23 percent.

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Stock sufficiency in September was 23.9 days, declining below the 30-day threshold.

The NMDPRA stressed that while 28.7million litres were supplied per day from domestic sources, declining by 21 percent from the previous month, 10.2 million litres were imported, reducing imported petrol by 30 percent in the period under review.

According to the Factsheet, “Domestic refining contributed about 65 percent of the national petrol requirement (consumption) in September 2026, and about 74 percent of receipts, supplemented by 26 percent of imports”.

The Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Company (DPRP) is the only domestic refinery which currently produces petrol in Nigeria.

The report added that the DPRP produced 47.22 million litres per day of PMS in September, supplying 28.50 million litres per day to the domestic market and exporting (35.2 percent) 15.47 million litres per day.

On capacity utilization, the refinery recorded 105.98 percent of its 650,000 barrels per day capacity in the period under review.

The Factsheet disclosed that 8.7million litres of diesel were consumed in the month under review.

The NMDPRA revealed that modular refineries supplied 4.3 percent of domestic diesel consumption in September.

Aradel and OPAC, said the Factsheet, operated below optimal capacity due to feedstock challenges and maintenance shutdowns.

September diesel receipts, according to the NMDPRA, were the lowest of the 13 months, driven by low imports and low domestic evacuation amid high prices.

The Factsheet said, “Nigeria’s energy-sector transformation is progressing. Domestic refining contributed about 65 percent of the national petrol requirement (consumption) in September 2026, and about 74 percent of receipts, supplemented by 26 percent of imports.

“Priority gas projects have reached significant mileage, with the AKK pipeline at 84 percent completion as of September 2026,” the Factsheet pointed out.

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Energy

Renaissance, Sterling Bank Back Indigenous Oil and Gas Contractors Financially

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The appetite for improving access to capital for indigenous oil and gas contractors, strengthening the capacity of Nigerian businesses to execute critical energy projects and contribute to the country’s production ambitions, has seen the Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited (‘Renaissance’) go into a strategic financing partnership with Sterling Bank Limited.

The partnership, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), brings Sterling Bank into the renewed Renaissance Vendor Financing Scheme (RVFS), a structured financing programme designed to address one of the longstanding challenges confronting indigenous service providers in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry: access to timely and affordable funding for contract execution.

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The expanded programme brings together 13 financial institutions with combined financing commitments of $4.1 billion and ₦435 billion, creating a substantial pool of capital to support eligible contractors delivering projects for Renaissance, operator of the former Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) joint venture assets.

Speaking on its participation, Dele Faseemo, Group Executive, Corporate and Investment Banking at Sterling Bank, described the partnership as an important opportunity to connect financial capacity with productive enterprise in one of Nigeria’s most strategically important sectors.

“At Sterling Bank, we believe financing should enable capable businesses to deliver, grow and compete. Our participation in the Renaissance Vendor Financing Scheme reflects that conviction. By providing structured funding to qualified contractors, we are supporting the businesses that keep the energy value chain moving, strengthening Nigerian content participation and contributing to the broader objective of increasing the country’s productive capacity,” Faseemo said.

For many indigenous contractors, securing a major contract represents only the first step towards business growth. The ability to mobilise equipment, procure materials, retain skilled personnel and meet demanding project timelines often depends on access to adequate working capital. Financing constraints can therefore limit the capacity of otherwise qualified businesses to execute contracts, scale their operations and participate more meaningfully in the energy value chain.

Through the RVFS, participating financial institutions will provide structured financing to eligible contractors against confirmed contracts awarded by Renaissance, subject to applicable credit assessment and approval processes. The arrangement is intended to ease funding pressures, improve project execution and strengthen the financial capacity of indigenous service providers.

Tony Attah, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, highlighted the importance of the financing arrangement to the company’s growth ambitions.

“What we’ve been able to achieve as Renaissance is to go into that partnership with these incredible 13 banks who have come up to support this vendor scheme at over $4 billion and over ₦435 billion funds available for the vendors to be able to support us in our growth agenda,” Attah said.

He further emphasised the financial advantage the scheme offers participating contractors, noting that, “The interest rate that the banks are offering to the contractors is very competitive, and it is certainly better than the vendors going out to the respective banks on their own.”

The Renaissance Vendor Financing Scheme builds on a contractor financing programme established in 2010, which has evolved over the years to support local service providers executing projects across the oil and gas value chain. Its latest expansion comes as Renaissance pursues an ambitious growth strategy, including its aspiration to achieve production of one million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030.

Delivering on this ambition will require sustained investment not only in upstream production assets but also in the network of engineering firms, equipment suppliers, logistics providers, technical specialists and other indigenous businesses whose services are essential to operational performance.

With an established presence in corporate banking and energy sector financing, Sterling Bank continues to support businesses operating across critical segments of the Nigerian economy through tailored financial solutions, strategic partnerships and sector-specific expertise.

The collaboration reinforces the Bank’s commitment to supporting indigenous enterprise development, strengthening local capacity and financing productive economic activity, while contributing to efforts to improve Nigeria’s energy security and long-term industrial competitiveness.

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Energy

UNDC Assures on Readiness to Protect Oil, Gas Pipelines

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Pipeline contract

The Niger Delta Youths are primed to assume national responsibilities in critical areas of the economy by protecting vital oil and gas assets in the region.

The United Niger Delta Congress (UNDC) gave the assurance at a media briefing in Abuja, over the weekend, adding that the youths of Niger Delta were ready to work with the federal government in this regard.

The group maintained that youths in the region have shown that such responsibilities, including the security of pipelines, can be entrusted to them.

Speaking at the news conference, Niger Delta Youth activist, Mallam Julius Obi, said the Niger Delta is safer while the nation’s crude is flowing based on the fact that youths in the region are doing the job.

He said that being a youth should not be a disqualification from strategic national assignments but when matched with preparation and character, a national asset.

“We are calling on the federal government to note that Nigeria is full of young men and women who are prepared, disciplined and ready to carry out national responsibilities.

“We urge the federal government to keep opening the doors of strategic national service to young Nigerians who have earned trust the only way it can be earned, by delivery,” Obi said.

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The group commended President Bola Tinubu for sustaining the security reforms in the oil and gas industry and the the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, for coordinating the protection of the nation’s pipelines, and the management of NNPCL for providing the enabling environment.

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