Is Heirs Energies the future of Nigerian oil?

Nigerian independent oil and gas producer Heirs Energies has revealed that its production now surpasses more than 50,000 barrels per day (bpd)

The company — which refers to itself as Africa’s fastest-growing indigenous integrated energy company — has seen its production more than double from 21,000 bpd in just four years.

Hosting its inaugural Petroleum Industry Leadership Dialogue at the Transcorp Hilton Abuja recently, its founder and chairman Tony Elumelu paid tribute to the catalytic role the current government has played in reinvigorating the independent oil and gas sector.

“Production growth, ambitious and sustained, is our shared national mission,” he told delegates at the event.

“As an investor, not just in resources, but in Nigeria’s power production and distribution sectors, all of us need to come together to ensure Nigerians get the benefits of our resources. As we build Africa’s largest integrated energy business, innovation and collaboration are central to our execution.”

Elumelu also set out his company’s vision of transforming Africa’s energy landscape through indigenous leadership, coupled with sustainable development.

Heirs Energies chief executive, Osa Igiehon, illustrated how the company had successfully grown its footprint in Nigeria’s onshore sector.

“Our success at Heirs Energies demonstrates what’s possible in Nigeria’s onshore sector, through our brownfield excellence strategy, robust security measures and genuine community partnership,” he said.

“By tripling our producing wells to over 100, we’ve shown how indigenous operators can efficiently unlock value while ensuring sustainable development of host communities.”

Speaking at the forum, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, announced that Nigeria’s total oil production stood at 1.8 million bpd in January 2025.

The target is to grow this to 2.5 million bpd during 2025, he added.

He also reaffirmed the administration’s ‘drill or drop’ policy to accelerate production growth and further encourage the development of the independent sector.

Other speakers at the event highlighted how a series of Presidential Executive Orders had radically reshaped the operating environment for the independents and catalysed industry growth.

Indigenous oil and gas firms are now responsible for more than 60% of Nigeria’s crude output with the indigenisation programme delivering a “bold new chapter” in the country’s natural resources development, delegates heard.

Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, chief executive at First E&P, another independent, and also OPEC Board of Governors chairman for Nigeria, cited his own company’s achievement of reaching 57,000 bpd from previously untapped fields.

Gbenga Komolafe, chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) highlighted a surge in active drilling rigs to 38, with projections to reach 50 by March 2025.

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