For three decades, Oando Plc listed on both the Nigerian Exchange Gr0up (NGX) and Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), has stood at the forefront of Nigeria’s energy evolution, transforming from a local oil marketing firm into a leading African energy conglomerate.
What began as a modest indigenous company in 1994 has evolved into a diversified energy giant, reshaping the energy landscape and setting new benchmarks for innovation, sustainability, and the potential of homegrown enterprises to compete on the global stage.
Industry analysts and stakeholders are optimistic that Oando, under the leadership of Wale Tinubu, Oando group chief executive is poised to redefine Africa’s energy sector and emerge as a global force driving sustainable development and prosperity.
Tinubu’s leadership
At the heart of Oando’s success is the visionary leadership of Wale Tinubu, who has steered the company through three decades of transformation.
Tinubu’s strategic acumen, entrepreneurial spirit, and unwavering commitment to excellence have been instrumental in shaping Oando’s trajectory.
At the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, Tinubu, who has carved a niche for himself as an innovator and pace setter in the African oil and gas space, said the oil and gas industry was the fastest path to attaining foreign exchange (forex) stability and improve trade position for Nigeria.
He highlighted the immense prospects of indigenous energy companies taking over the divested assets by international oil companies (IOCs) in Nigeria.
According to him, the industry can unlock previously untapped potential by combining robust working capital, advanced technologies, and the unique skills, capacity, and local acumen of Indigenous players, who now significantly control Nigeria’s onshore assets.
Tinubu, whose company was one of the first indigenous companies that successfully acquired an IOC’s onshore assets with its acquisition of AGIP, underscored the importance of partnership and critical financing to not only extract value from these material reserves but also accelerate the rate of extraction.
“As a company, we have over a billion barrels of reserves, 300,000 barrels a day of oil processing capacity, and over 2 billion cubic feet a day of gas capacity. Effectively, the net present value of the oil we have in our facilities is well over $10 billion,” Tinubu said.
Oando’s dream with AI
In an interview with CNBC in Davos, Wale Tinubu unveiled plans on how Oando would adopt artificial intelligence, amongst other technologies, in its next drilling campaign to explore over 1.0 billion barrels of oil reserves to strengthen decision-making and optimize costs in oil exploration.
“In a drilling operation, we have to make crucial decisions which have a high impact on costs. AI will allow us to analyze vast amounts of data, including decades of seismic technology and drilling experience, to identify the most optimal solutions,” Tinubu said.
A just energy transition was a topic that echoed throughout the WEF. In addressing the ongoing conversations about decarbonisation, Tinubu reinforced the need for a just energy transition, stating that Africa contributes a minuscule amount to global emissions, constituting about 20 per cent of the global population.
Read also: Oando posts N65.5bn full year profit as revenue hits N4.1trn
Oando’s revenue hits N4.1tn
Data sourced from the company latest financials showed Oando Plc reported a 45 per cent increase in revenue to N4.1tn for the financial year ended December 31, 2024, compared to N2.9 trillion recorded in the previous year.
In the full year of 2024, the group reported total assets amounting to N7.5 trillion, a significant increase from N2.6 trillion in the previous year.
Non-current assets rose from N1.8 trillion in 2023 to N3.8 trillion for FY 2024. Within this category, property, plant, and equipment comprised 53.13 percent of the total, while intangible assets accounted for 33.18 percent.
Total current assets also saw considerable growth, reaching N3.6 trillion, up from N815.5 billion.
Oando’s production for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024, averaged 23,911 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), an increase from the 23,258 boe/d achieved in 2023. This growth was primarily driven by the acquisition of an additional 20 percent stake in the NAOC JV in Q4, partially offset by production disruptions due to shut-in wells resulting from sabotage activities.
Additionally, the Group incurred $18.1 million on capital expenditures related to the development of oil and gas assets and exploration and evaluation activities, compared to $52.3 million in the twelve months to December 31, 2023.
Looking ahead to 2025, Tinubu stated, “In 2025, our priority shall be to drive cost optimization, operational efficiency, streamline processes, enhance procurement, and leverage technology to improve productivity across our operations. In parallel, we will intensify efforts to boost production through the dual approach of rig-less and workover initiatives while executing an aggressive drilling program across three rig lines.
Angola’s inroad
Early this year, Oando won operatorship of a block on the onshore side of the Kwanza Basin, marking its entry into the Angolan oil and gas industry.
“Block KON 13 is strategically located in the prolific Kwanza Onshore Basin which represents significant exploration potential in both pre-salt and post-salt plays, with estimated prospective resources of 770 to 1,100 million barrels of oil”, Oando said in an online statement.
Previously two exploration wells were drilled to a target depth of 3,000 meters (9,842.52 feet), with oil and gas encountered across various depths, it said.
Oando, which won bidding through subsidiary Oando Energy Resources (OER), owns a 45 percent stake. Effimax Energy holds 30 percent, while state-owned Sociedade Nacional de Combustíveis de Angola EP has 15 percent, according to Oando.
“This development underscores Oando’s relentless commitment to expanding our footprint across Africa and contributing to the continent’s energy sufficiency goals”, said Oando chief executive Wale Tinubu.
OER owns exploration, development and production interests in oil and gas assets onshore and offshore Nigeria and São Tomé and Príncipe.
It has 22,447 square kilometers (8,666.83 square miles) of acreage, an oil handling capacity of 483,000 barrels a day, a gas handling capacity of 3,663 million standard cubic feet per day, 3.5 million barrels of terminal capacity, a pipeline network stretching over 1,255 kilometers (779.82 miles), 14 flow stations and a one-gigawatt power plant, according to Oando.
Read also: Oando acquires 100% equity stake in Nigerian Agip Oil Company
NAOC Takeover
Last year, Oando acquired Nigerian Agip Oil Co. Ltd. (NAOC) from Eni SpA for nearly $800 million.
NAOC operates Oil Mining Licenses (OMLs) 60, 61, 62 and 63 in the Niger Delta through the NAOC joint venture with Oando and Nigeria National Petroleum Co. Ltd. (NNPC). Before the transaction with Italian state-backed Eni, NAOC and Oando held a 20 percent stake each in the joint venture while the remaining 60 percent is under NNPC E&P Ltd. Oando has now raised its stake in the four licenses to 40 percent.
The NAOC joint venture portion of Oando’s acquisition included “forty discovered oil and gas fields, of which twenty-four are currently producing, approximately forty identified prospects and leads, twelve production stations, approximately 1,490 km [925.8 miles] of pipelines, three gas processing plants, the Brass River Oil Terminal, the Kwale-Okpai phases 1 & 2 power plants (with a total nameplate capacity of 960 megawatts), and associated infrastructure”, Oando said August 22, 2024, announcing the closure of the transaction.
Eni’s sale also included NAOC’s 48 percent and 90 percent operating interests in exploration leases 135 and 282 respectively.
“It is a win for Oando, and every indigenous energy player, as we take our destiny in our hands, and play a pivotal role in this next phase of the nation’s upstream evolution, ” said Tinubu, the Oando chief executive.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
