Indonesia’s state-owned oil company, Pertamina, is exploring investment opportunities in Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas industry, with interest spanning producing assets and projects approaching final investment decisions (FID).
The move comes as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) intensifies efforts to attract international capital and boost oil production.
The development followed talks involving NUPRC Chief Executive, Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, Indonesia’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arif Oegroseno, and Pertamina’s Vice-President, Upstream Business Development, Toriq Abdat.
Discussions centred on investment prospects in Nigeria and wider areas of bilateral cooperation as both countries seek to strengthen energy security, optimise their natural resources and raise domestic oil output.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the NUPRC Head of Corporate Communications and Media, Eniola Akinkuotu, Eyesan said Nigeria and Indonesia shared common priorities in areas including energy security, resource development and the mobilisation of investment into the oil and gas sector.
The engagement took place as both countries pursue strategies to increase crude oil production. Nigeria has set a target of reaching three million barrels per day by 2030, against present production of roughly 1.6 million to 1.7 million barrels per day.
Indonesia, whose crude output stands at about 600,000 barrels per day, is similarly seeking to raise production while recognising the need to explore opportunities beyond its domestic oil fields to meet growing energy needs.
The statement read, “The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has opened discussions with Indonesia on petroleum investments even as the Indonesian national oil company Pertamina signalled an interest in the upcoming 2026 licensing round.”
Abdat explained that Pertamina’s international expansion was being driven partly by declining domestic production and changes in the nature of discoveries within Indonesia. He said the company was therefore pursuing upstream opportunities across several international markets.
“We have been given a mandate to expand our business internationally; we are now in other countries outside Indonesia. In Indonesia, we are producing only around 600,000 barrels. We are working on exploration towards deepwater, but we found more gas than oil. That is why we go outside Indonesia, Malaysia, then the Middle East, Iraq and Nigeria,” he said.
According to Abdat, Pertamina is particularly interested in investments capable of generating production within a relatively short period. These include existing producing assets as well as projects that are close to commencing production or have yet to reach FID.
“We would like to be in projects with governments. Producing assets, or near production, or before FID. Now we are looking at how we can help you reach the 3 million, and also help us provide more energy for our own consumption,” he said.
Eyesan said Nigeria’s production ambitions were similarly significant, adding that the country was deploying licensing rounds as part of its strategy to attract fresh investment and expand output.
“We have very aggressive targets, 3 million barrels per day by 2030, and today we are at 1.6, 1.7. We are committed to the objective and the licensing round is one of the strategies we are utilising,” she said.
The NUPRC has increasingly presented licensing rounds as a structured and recurring avenue through which investors can gain access to new oil and gas acreage, rather than as an occasional process. The Commission said its latest licensing exercise attracted about 300 companies for 50 available assets, with 196 applicants progressing to the bidding stage. At the conclusion of the bidding process, 143 companies submitted 200 bids for 37 assets.
The regulator later announced 31 successful companies for 37 oil and gas blocks, while 13 of the 50 blocks offered received no bids. The assets span onshore, shallow-water, deep offshore and frontier basins, including the Benue Trough, Chad Basin, Anambra Basin and Benin Basin.
The Commission has also maintained that Nigeria’s approach to acreage administration will provide investors with predictable and periodic opportunities to participate in upstream activities.
Beyond crude oil and natural gas, the Indonesian delegation indicated that it was assessing additional areas of cooperation. Pertamina is developing a fertiliser plant as part of efforts to reduce Indonesia’s reliance on supplies from the Middle East and limit exposure to disruptions arising from the current global conflict.
The Indonesian delegation linked food security to the oil and gas industry, noting the importance of phosphate and other elements used in fertiliser production. Nigeria is also seeking to broaden its sources of phosphate, including through a proposed long-term transatlantic pipeline project with Morocco intended to support fertiliser supply across West Africa.
Nigeria has further undertaken reforms aimed at streamlining fertiliser distribution, including reducing a regulatory framework that previously involved about 160 layers.
The discussions ended with both sides agreeing to continue advancing the commercial and diplomatic aspects of their relationship simultaneously, with potential energy investments and broader economic cooperation remaining areas of engagement.
