Nigeria is seeking to deepen petroleum investment ties with Indonesia as Indonesian state-owned oil company Pertamina signals interest in opportunities under the country’s 2026 oil and gas licensing round.
The development followed discussions between Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, Indonesia’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arif Havas Oegroseno, and Pertamina’s Vice President for Upstream Business Development, Toriq Abdat.
Eyesan said Nigeria and Indonesia were approaching the discussions with similar priorities, particularly energy security, resource utilisation and attracting investment into their petroleum sectors.
Pertamina said it was looking beyond Indonesia as it seeks additional international upstream opportunities, with Nigeria among the countries it is considering.
“We have been given a mandate to expand our business internationally. We are now in other countries outside Indonesia,” Abdat said.
He said Pertamina was producing about 600,000 barrels of oil per day in Indonesia but was seeking opportunities abroad after exploration in Indonesian deepwater areas yielded more gas than oil.
“That is why we go outside Indonesia, Malaysia, then the Middle East, Iraq and Nigeria,” he said.
Abdat said the Indonesian company was particularly interested in producing assets, projects close to production and opportunities that are yet to reach final investment decision.
“Producing assets, or near production, or before FID,” he said, adding that Pertamina would consider both competitive bidding and bilateral arrangements.
“We would like to be in projects with governments,” Abdat said.
He added that Pertamina was looking at how it could support Nigeria’s ambition to increase crude oil production while securing additional energy supplies for Indonesia.
Nigeria is targeting crude oil production of three million barrels per day by 2030. Eyesan said the country’s current production was around 1.6 million to 1.7 million barrels per day.
“We have very aggressive targets, 3 million barrels per day by 2030, and today we are at 1.6, 1.7,” Eyesan said.
“We are committed to the objective and the licensing round is one of the strategies we are utilizing.”
The NUPRC chief executive said Nigeria’s licensing rounds had increasingly become a regular mechanism for attracting capital and developing upstream assets under the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.
The Commission has previously said the 2026 licensing round was approved by the Minister of Petroleum Resources and was designed to provide another pipeline of investment opportunities after the 2025 round.
The 2025 licensing round attracted bids for 37 of the 50 blocks offered, with 31 companies emerging as winners. NUPRC said final awards would be subject to payment of the applicable signature bonuses and approval by the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
Eyesan said Nigeria had also adjusted its fiscal terms, including reducing entry barriers such as signature bonuses, in response to competition for international investment capital.
The discussions with Pertamina extended beyond crude oil and natural gas to fertiliser and food security.
The Indonesian delegation said Pertamina was developing a fertiliser plant to reduce Indonesia’s dependence on supplies from the Middle East, particularly amid disruptions linked to global conflicts.
The delegation linked fertiliser security to the energy sector because phosphate and other inputs required for fertiliser production are important to agricultural productivity.
Nigeria is also pursuing diversification of fertiliser inputs, including a proposed long-term transatlantic pipeline project involving Morocco, while reforms have been introduced to simplify fertiliser distribution.
Both sides agreed to maintain the commercial and diplomatic discussions in parallel as Nigeria seeks additional investment and Indonesia explores opportunities to strengthen its international energy portfolio.
