Nigeria Needs Skilled Workforce To Unlock $50bn Offshore Oil Investment, Regulator Says

Nigeria needs to invest in skills development in the oil and gas sector to fully benefit from the Deep Offshore Oil and Gas Project Incentives (Tax Remission) Executive Order 2026, recently signed by President Bola Tinubu, the country’s upstream petroleum regulator said.

The order has the potential to unlock $50 billion in new offshore investments and create jobs, said Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

However, Nigeria needs a modern upstream workforce to take advantage of the opportunities, attract foreign investment and increase oil production to 3 million barrels per day by 2030, Eyesan said.

Speaking at the Oil and Gas Trainers Association of Nigeria (OGTAN) inaugural Human Capital Development (HCD) Conference and Expo 2026 in Warri on Thursday, Eyesan said the sector faced a skills gap following a decline in offshore oil and gas investment over the past decade.

Nigeria attracted up to $26 billion in oil and gas investment in 2014, but that figure had fallen to about $2 billion annually by 2023, she said.

“In that period, the first that we lost were the geoscientists. So, once the budget cuts started, there was no more exploration, so the geoscientists had to be offloaded,” Eyesan said.

“Then some petroleum engineers became casualties because, for operators, it was no longer about drilling new wells but about survival mode — just maintenance and what have you. Our infrastructure was heavily derated because we were not investing.”

With new investments now returning to the sector, Nigeria needs to rebuild its technical capabilities, particularly in subsurface disciplines, Eyesan said.

“Today we are attracting new investments and so we want to see an upward trajectory. It stands to reason that you must go back to the basics. First of all, we need the right competencies in sub-surface,” she said.

But the skills required today are broader than those needed a decade ago, as digital technologies and artificial intelligence reshape the industry.

“What happened in 2014 is not what we are facing today because the digital age has taken over the business,” Eyesan said.

“So, you’re not just looking at a driller anymore. Today, you are talking about digital. You must know how to digitally drill.”

Eyesan identified six priority competency areas requiring urgent attention: digitalisation, artificial intelligence and data analytics; advanced subsurface and reservoir management; commercial, fiscal and regulatory expertise; gas development and energy transition; asset integrity, health, safety and environment (HSE) and decommissioning management; and project leadership, stakeholder management and multidisciplinary collaboration.