– Seeks tech transfer, new investment channels
Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, says the country is intensifying strategic engagements with international partners to attract investment and secure its energy future, leveraging the platform of the 9th OPEC International Seminar in Vienna.
Speaking after a series of high-level bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit, Lokpobiri revealed that Nigeria’s participation focused on deepening partnerships, enhancing technology transfer, and unlocking new investment opportunities for Nigeria’s oil sector.
“Building synergy with our partners and prospects remains critical to arriving at the space we desire in achieving true energy security,” Lokpobiri said.
In Vienna, Nigeria’s delegation held separate bilateral meetings with OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al Ghais, and oil ministers from Libya and India, focusing on areas including joint ventures, upstream cooperation, and facilitating investor confidence.
“Our conversations focused on strengthening existing bilateral relationships, exploring technology transfer partnerships, and creating new pathways for increased investment inflows into Nigeria’s oil sector,” the minister disclosed.
He noted that Nigeria’s influence in the global energy dialogue is expanding, crediting this growing clout to the policy direction and reforms introduced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
“Under his stewardship, Nigeria is steadily becoming a prime destination for energy investment,” Lokpobiri said.
The minister reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to providing an enabling environment for investors, stressing that regulatory clarity, policy reforms, and strategic diplomacy are being used to restore investor confidence in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
The OPEC Summit, which brings together oil producers, energy leaders, and investors, provided a forum for Nigeria to position itself as a major hub in Africa’s energy transition and global hydrocarbon supply chain.
