Oil operating firms in Nigeria have increased from fewer than 10 before the implementation of local content policies to about 117 currently, as local content performance rose from less than 5 per cent in 2010 to 61 per cent in 2025.
The development was disclosed on Tuesday at the 2026 Nigerian Oil and Gas Midstream and Downstream Summit held in Lagos, where regulators, lawmakers, and industry stakeholders projected increased investments in gas processing, refining, petrochemicals, infrastructure, and local manufacturing.
The summit, themed “Unlocking, Growing and Sustaining Nigerian Content Development in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Midstream and Downstream Sectors,” brought together regulators, investors, operators, manufacturers, financial institutions, and policymakers to develop strategies aimed at expanding indigenous participation and retaining more value within Nigeria’s energy industry.
Acting Manager, Midstream Monitoring, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Patrick June, disclosed that the expansion had generated 11,934 jobs and reflected the increasing participation of Nigerian firms across the value chain.
“For instance, Nigerian companies in the upstream sector, which were dominated by international and now national companies, were just less than 10. But as we speak, operating companies are about 117, with a job creation of 11,934. So, that is a significant improvement,” he said.
June further revealed that the NCDMB’s database presently captures about 11,764 service companies, hundreds of registered firms under the Joint Qualification System, 50 fabrication yards, 20 engineering design firms, and 122 manufacturing companies.
“Local content has enabled significant growth in operating companies, service companies, individual registrations, fabrication yards, engineering firms, and manufacturing companies, increasing local content from less than 5 per cent in 2010 to 61 per cent in 2025,” he added.
Speaking, the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Felix Ogbe, represented by the Head of the Directorate of Planning, Research and Statistics, Austin Azuka, said the country was witnessing a transformation in the oil and gas value chain driven by reforms, policy clarity, stronger investor confidence, and deliberate efforts aimed at expanding indigenous participation.
According to him, while Nigeria had historically depended on crude oil exports and imported refined products, recent investments and policy reforms were changing that narrative, especially with the Dangote Petroleum Refinery coming online.
He noted that the board was broadening its local content agenda beyond upstream operations to deepen participation across the entire value chain.
“However, as we continue to deepen Nigerian content, it has become increasingly clear that the next major frontier for sustainable economic growth, industrial expansion, employment generation, and national competitiveness lies significantly within the midstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry,” he stated.
Ogbe said opportunities were expanding rapidly in gas gathering, processing, compression, transportation, storage facilities, pipelines, cooking gas, and compressed natural gas distribution, refining, petrochemicals, logistics, and retail operations.
He added that Nigeria was increasingly moving beyond being merely a producer of crude oil to becoming a processor and exporter of finished and semi-finished energy products.
Ogbe pointed to large-scale refining investments, modular refineries, gas commercialisation projects, domestic gas utilisation programmes, and petrochemical expansion as the latest trajectory in the energy sector.
“One of the most notable achievements in this regard is the emergence of world-class refining infrastructure within our country, particularly the Dangote refinery, which stands today as one of the largest single-train refineries in the world and a major symbol of Nigeria’s industrial ambition, resilience, and capacity for self-sufficiency,” he stated.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Midstream and Downstream), Senator Kawu Sumaila, described the sector as central to the country’s energy future, noting that local content development had become a national economic priority.
He said the midstream and downstream segments remained critical to refining, transportation, gas processing, storage, pipelines, retail operations, logistics, and manufacturing. “Therefore, strengthening Nigerian content in these sectors is not merely a regulatory obligation. It is a national development priority,” he said.
Sumaila added that while the Petroleum Industry Act had opened a new era of transparency, investment, and competitiveness, implementation and stakeholder collaboration remain essential. “We believe that Nigerian content must go beyond participation on paper. It must translate into real capacity,” he stated.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority also pledged continued support for investments and local content development.
The Chief Executive of the NMDPRA, Rabiu Umar, who was represented by the Acting Executive Director, Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning, Olasupo Agbaje, said the sector had recorded substantial investments in recent years, particularly within gas processing and infrastructure development.
“What we have found over the years, and likely so within the last few years, is massive investment. And we are all seeing this happen. Massive investments in the oil and especially in the gas space,” he said.
