Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, has challenged regulators in Nigeria’s petroleum industry to create a transparent, predictable and investment-friendly environment or risk losing global capital to competing oil-producing nations.
Speaking at the 2026 Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) General Counsel and Legal Advisers Forum in Abuja, Lokpobiri said the era when compliance alone defined regulatory success had passed, stressing that investors now seek certainty, consistency and efficiency before committing long-term capital.
“For too long, the dominant question has been whether operators are complying. That question matters, but it is no longer sufficient. The more consequential question today is this: are our regulatory authorities doing their job? Is regulation clear, consistent and predictable enough to give investors confidence to commit long-term capital?” he asked.
The minister warned that Nigeria was competing directly with other investment destinations amid global energy transition, geopolitical uncertainties and supply chain disruptions, insisting that policy consistency, contract sanctity and efficient regulatory processes must become the country’s strongest selling points.
While commending the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) for restructuring the governance framework of the oil and gas sector, Lokpobiri maintained that legislation alone would not attract investors without disciplined implementation by regulatory institutions.
He also defended the Federal Government’s downstream deregulation policy, saying it had paved the way for investments such as the Dangote Refinery and improved the availability of petroleum products nationwide. However, he cautioned that deregulation must not become an avenue for exploitation of consumers.
“When consumers pay for 10 litres of Premium Motor Spirit, they must receive exactly 10 litres—not less,” he said, adding that the recent easing of tensions surrounding the U.S.-Iran conflict should ordinarily be reflected in lower pump prices.
Lokpobiri tasked legal advisers and general counsel in the industry to move beyond legal compliance and become strategic partners in attracting investments and shaping sound regulatory policies.
“Do not become stumbling blocks. We will not be judged by the number of regulations we produce or guidelines we issue. We will be judged by the investments we attract, the jobs we create and the value we leave behind,” he said.
Earlier, the Authority Chief Executive of NMDPRA, Mallam Rabiu Abdullahi Umar, said Nigeria’s petroleum industry had entered a critical implementation phase five years after the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act, stressing that investor confidence now depends largely on how reforms are implemented.
“The focus is no longer solely on what the law says. The focus is increasingly on how the law is being implemented, how regulations are operating in practice, how markets are responding to reforms and how investors are assessing opportunities,” Umar said.
He acknowledged that regulatory ambiguities and implementation challenges still exist but assured stakeholders that the Authority would continue to promote transparency, fairness and sustained engagement to strengthen investor confidence.
Also speaking, the Authority Secretary and Legal Adviser, Dr. Joseph Adebola Tolorunse, said investment naturally follows regulatory certainty rather than resource abundance alone, while other participants identified overlapping regulations, policy inconsistencies, delays in approvals and weak dispute resolution mechanisms as major barriers to investment.
Stakeholders at the forum agreed that Nigeria’s vast hydrocarbon reserves would not automatically attract investment unless regulatory institutions consistently deliver the certainty, predictability and trust required by global investors.
