Mkpoikana Udoma
Abuja — Chairman and Managing Director of Chevron companies in Nigeria, Jim Swartz, has called for a balanced and pragmatic approach to Nigeria’s energy future, advocating policies that combine economic growth, energy security and environmental sustainability.
Speaking at the 2025 Nigeria Oil and Gas, NOG Energy Week in Abuja, during a strategic panel on “Pragmatically Achieving Energy Abundance”, Swartz said Nigeria’s path to energy security must embrace practicality, inclusiveness, and a lower-carbon trajectory.
He reaffirmed Chevron’s position that oil and gas will remain a key part of the energy mix, even as the world transitions to cleaner sources.
“Chevron in Nigeria has embarked on a journey to improve and grow our business, which is referred to as the ‘North Star’. Our North Star strategies include to: Improve Base Business, Grow Production and Monetize Gas Resources,” Jim remarked.
Swartz highlighted Chevron’s uniqueness among international oil companies, IOCs, noting its operations span onshore, shallow water, and deepwater assets, and that it is one of the first IOCs to convert all joint venture and Agbami leases under the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA.
“Our recent efforts to position ourselves for a new phase of growth include recent farm-in into OPL 215 to boost deepwater development opportunities, signing of 20-year renewal of 3 deepwater leases, completion of seismic data acquisition in our deepwater leases, the ongoing shallow water infill drilling program utilizing 2 rig, drilling of exploration wells and fast-tracking production from our Meji NW discovery,” he stated.
On technology’s role, Swartz emphasized that digital transformation, environmental monitoring and supply chain optimization are critical to future energy growth and competitiveness.
“Chevron takes a long view of Nigeria, and we look forward to being a part of Nigeria’s prosperous future,” he stated.
He further lauded the Federal Government’s oil and gas reforms but stressed the need for enhanced collaboration between public and private sector stakeholders to attract investment and strengthen Nigeria’s global energy standing.
