NNPCL backs NIPetGE as strategic partner in Nigeria’s energy future

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has thrown its weight behind the Nigerian Institute of Petroleum and Gas Engineers, describing the professional body as a critical driver of technical capacity and policy reform in the country’s oil and gas sector.

The endorsement came during a high-level courtesy visit by Prisca Kanebi, the president-elect of NIPetGE, and her delegation to Bayo Ojulari, group chief executive officer of NNPC.
The GCEO was represented by Olalekan Ogunleye, the executive vice president for gas, power, and new energy.

For an industry navigating the twin pressures of global decarbonisation and domestic energy insecurity, the meeting carried weight beyond protocol.

Both sides spoke to a shared urgency, positioning Nigeria not merely as a fossil fuel supplier, but as a competitive, technology-enabled energy nation.

“The engagement reflects where the sector needs to go,” one official close to the discussions said. “It is about aligning institutions, not just intentions.”

Kanebi, who assumes leadership of the institute at a defining moment for Nigeria’s hydrocarbon industry, used the visit to present a slate of recommendations her organisation intends to champion. They include the creation of a National Centre for Intelligent Energy Systems, a proposed hub for the deployment of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and robotics across the oil and gas value chain.

The institute also advocated for a Hydrocarbon-Based Emission Trading Framework that would position Nigeria to participate meaningfully in international carbon markets, a priority given the country’s outsized gas reserves and its largely untapped potential as a clean energy pivot point.

Other proposals on the table include targeted fiscal incentives to grow local manufacturing and services, upstream decarbonisation milestones embedded within the national Energy Transition Plan, and expanded public-private partnerships in carbon capture and hybrid renewable infrastructure.

Kanebi was emphatic that these recommendations do not represent a retreat from oil and gas. “Nigeria must sustain investment in hydrocarbons even as it pivots toward cleaner energy,” she said. The institute, she added, is committed to supporting federal decarbonisation policies while insisting on energy security as a non-negotiable parallel track.

The visit also shed light on NIPetGE’s legislative progress. The institute’s bill, designed to confer full autonomy and chartered professional status, has passed its second reading at the National Assembly and is advancing toward a third hearing. Chartered status would give NIPetGE greater regulatory standing and peer recognition with established engineering bodies across the Commonwealth.

NNPC’s leadership, for its part, pledged collaboration on initiatives spanning innovation, engineering education, and sustainability, and signalled openness to the institute’s agenda on bridging academia and industry.

With Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry Act still being stress-tested by market realities and investor caution, partnerships of this kind may prove to be less ceremonial than they appear. The real measure will be in implementation.