The President of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), Mrs. Olajumoke Cecilia Ajayi, has actually required increased financial investment in expedition, technological development and native technical abilities to open Nigeria’s untapped oil and gas reserves.
Ajayi stated Nigeria needs to prioritise expedition to renew diminished reserves and sustain production as fully grown oil fields decrease, worrying that the nation’s future petroleum resources would depend upon the market’s capability to check out more, check out much deeper and check out smarter.
She made the call on Monday, November 9, 2026, in Lagos while providing her opening remarks at the 44th NAPE Annual International Conference and Exhibition, with the style,”Unlocking More Barrels: Driving Reserves Growth Through Exploration, Local Capabilities & Adaptive Technology.”
According to her, the main concern facing Nigeria’s petroleum market must be where the nation’s next barrels of oil will originate from, especially as substantial resources stay undiscovered, unappraised and undeveloped.
She stated opening these resources would need the best mix of geological understanding, financial investment, innovation and decision to bring them into the nationwide economy.
“That is why this year’s style, ‘Unlocking More Barrels: Driving Reserves Growth Through Exploration, Local Capabilities & & Adaptive Technology,’ is both a call to action and a reflection of where our market stands today. This is not just about producing more. It is likewise about opening more,” she stated.
Ajayi observed that as fully grown fields continued to decrease and reserves were diminished, expedition needs to end up being a tactical top priority for the nation.
She kept in mind that Nigeria’s fully grown basins still held substantial chances, while frontier and underexplored basins needed much deeper geological understanding and the determination to carry out calculated threats.
“We need to check out more, check out much deeper, and check out smarter,” she specified.
The NAPE president, nevertheless, warned that expedition practices need to develop to show technological developments and the altering truths of the petroleum market.
She determined innovative seismic imaging, basin modelling, expert system, artificial intelligence and digital workflows as a few of the innovations changing how geoscientists comprehend and translate the subsurface.
According to her, the market should embrace adaptive innovations that react to Nigeria’s geological conditions, financial environment, information schedule and functional truths instead of welcoming developments merely due to the fact that they are brand-new.
She preserved that technological improvement needs to match, instead of change, sound geological understanding and expert judgement.
“Yet innovation is not a replacement for geological thinking. The future comes from the explorer who can integrate both,” she stated.
Beyond innovation, Ajayi determined human capability advancement as another crucial requirement for opening Nigeria’s next generation of oil and gas resources.
She argued that expedition success depended not just on advanced devices and digital tools however likewise on the competence, experience and judgement of the experts releasing them.
“No seismic workstation finds a field by itself. No algorithm translates a basin without human judgement. If we are to open Nigeria’s next generation of barrels, we should likewise open the capacity of our individuals,” she stated.
She required a shift in Nigeria’s regional material policy from simple involvement to the advancement of native technical and functional abilities.
According to her, Nigerian specialists and business should be geared up to carry out progressively complicated technical, functional and business tasks within the petroleum market.
She stated accomplishing this would need continual financial investment in human capital, organizations, research study, innovation and understanding, supported by more powerful partnership amongst market operators, federal government, academic community and expert associations.
Ajayi declared NAPE’s dedication to establishing the next generation of expedition experts, recognizing the association’s NAPE Academy as one of its efforts for gearing up young specialists with the understanding, abilities and self-confidence needed to lead the market.
She advised stakeholders to enhance expert advancement programs and develop chances for young Nigerian geoscientists and engineers to get useful experience and contribute meaningfully to expedition activities.
The NAPE president likewise highlighted the difficulties related to funding expedition, especially in frontier basins, explaining business as capital-intensive and naturally dangerous.
She stated drawing in the needed financial investments would depend upon producing an allowing environment that provides financiers self-confidence in acreage gain access to, geological information, regulative structures, financial stability and security.
She included that financiers need to likewise believe in the schedule of a trustworthy path for moving from discoveries to advancement and industrial production.
According to her, resolving these difficulties needs collaborated action throughout the petroleum market instead of separated interventions.
“This is an environment difficulty, and for that reason it needs a community action,” she stated.
Ajayi explained the yearly conference as more than a market event, stating it supplied a chance for experts and stakeholders to challenge existing presumptions, exchange understanding, develop collaborations and equate concepts into useful action.
She prompted individuals to determine the success of the conference not just by the quality of conversations and discussions however likewise by the actions and collaborations that would emerge after the occasion.
She challenged geoscientists and engineers to sustain their expedition efforts, young specialists to continue finding out, and native business to establish abilities that might contend globally.
She likewise contacted worldwide partners to deepen their engagement with Nigeria beyond the extraction of petroleum resources, worrying the significance of structure regional competence and sustainable market abilities.
“To our partners: partner with Nigeria not just for what can be drawn out, however for what can be developed,” she stated.
Ajayi advised stakeholders to concentrate on enhancing geological information, releasing proper innovations, reinforcing native abilities and drawing in financial investment to support the development of the nation’s petroleum reserves.
“Let us not merely ask where the next barrel is. Let us construct the ability to discover it,” she included.
She officially invited individuals to the 44th NAPE Annual International Conference and Exhibition, revealing optimism that the event would produce significant conversations, collaborations and results for Nigeria’s petroleum expedition sector.
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