Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has said the capital base of the African Energy Bank will soon hit $19 billion. He explained that Afrexim Bank had disclosed that it has an exposure of nearly $14 billion for the bank.

He also noted that $5 billion is the initial take-off capital. He said the total sum would now be $19 billion. The minister spoke yesterday during the opening ceremony of the Nigerian Pavilion, hosted by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), at the ongoing Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas, US.

The theme of the 2025 PETAN conference is: “Africa’s Energy Renaissance: Leveraging Innovation and Natural Gas for Sustainable Development.”

Lokpobiri also expressed his approval of Donald Trump’s return as President of the United States, suggesting it could help decelerate what he termed the “hypocritical” global energy transition narrative. He added that such had put Africa at a disadvantage.

According to him, the prevailing global discourse on energy transition is largely influenced by geopolitical considerations.