Nigerian independent balances oil recovery with gas growth

Nigeria

Tunde J. Afolabi, chairman and CEO of Amni International, talks to the Energy Year about the company’s promising drilling campaigns at the Okoro and Tubu fields and the rising importance of independent operators in Nigeria’s oil and gas space.

Amni International is an independent oil and gas E&P company that operates in West Africa.

• Nigeria is finally unlocking its stranded gas reserves, which have long been overlooked due to weak domestic demand. As Nigerian gas becomes more commercially attractive amid supply shortages, offtakers are moving to secure domestic volumes, reshaping investment priorities.
• With IOC divestments allowing indigenous players to scale up, independents are increasingly operating mature and underdeveloped assets, giving rise to a new growth phase in Nigeria’s upstream that can lift national output significantly.
• Given the long project timelines required to bring stranded gas to market, operators are relying on oil for short-term cashflow resilience while advancing gas developments.

What have been the key developments for Amni International over the past year?
Oil has historically been the primary revenue-generating stream for Amni. Gas simply did not have a market in Nigeria, despite the country’s significant reserves. That dynamic has changed in the past five years, as Nigeria LNG has faced severe gas shortages and begun reaching out to Amni and other companies. We have been fortunate to hold large volumes of non-associated gas, meaning we have been able to produce oil without touching the gas, keeping those reserves until commercial conditions are aligned.
Now our focus is on bringing that gas to market. Gas development cycles are long – up to five years to bring reserves into production – so in the meantime, oil will continue to underpin our business. As a relatively small company with two core assets that are mature after more than 32 years of production, large-scale gas development will take time.
At this stage, our objective is to maximise recovery and extract as much remaining oil as possible. We are approaching recovery levels of close to 90% of the reservoir, which reflects both the maturity of the assets and the technical effort being applied.

Can you provide an overview of your near-term production targets and ongoing drilling campaigns?
Our immediate focus is on targeted drilling campaigns across the Okoro and Tubu fields. At Okoro, a three-well programme is expected to deliver an additional 10,000 bopd, with the potential to reach up to 14,000 bopd as further drilling is executed.
With estimated reserves of up to 80 million barrels, the Tubu field represents a major growth opportunity. Development activity is expected to begin in Q4 2026, following completion of the current drilling campaign, which is anticipated to take around eight months and could add approximately 30,000 bopd to production.
Together, the Okoro and Tubu campaigns are expected to significantly transform Amni’s production profile as we maintain a disciplined focus on near-term cash generation through oil, while longer-cycle gas developments progress in parallel. It is a practical balance between sustaining current revenues and building future growth.
Our Ima gasfield project will likewise be transformational, both in scale and in the nature of its cash flow. At peak production, which is expected in Q4 2028, it is expected to deliver around 9.9 mcm (350 mcf) of gas per day, which translates to approximately 50,000 boepd, effectively doubling the company’s production base.
What makes Ima particularly attractive, however, is the economics. Since the gas has already been discovered, there is no exploration capex. Development is focused on drilling five wells and connecting the field to existing infrastructure, and the gas is dry, meaning minimal processing is required before it is transported via pipeline to the Nigeria LNG facility. Together, these factors will result in strong, stable cash flows.
What’s more, government fiscal incentives for NAG [non-associated gas] will allow us to retain more revenue and enhance returns further. This, combined with a solid commercial agreement with LNG buyers, has made the project highly bankable. We are targeting to close financing for close to USD 1 billion, with expectations of securing commitments by the end of Q2 2026.

As IOCs divest assets, will acquisitions play a part in your growth?
Acquisitions are a fast-track route to scale. They can complement organic growth and accelerate Amni’s transition into a major independent producer, so they could be a central component of our growth. We initially set a target of reaching around 50,000 bopd within five years, but given the divestments being carried out by IOCs, projections now suggest that our output could exceed 100,000 bopd within that period.
There is real upside potential in acquiring the producing assets of international operators. Amni is currently pursuing opportunities that could add another 100,000 bopd to our portfolio by Q3 2026, subject to the successful close of the transactions. These are not exploration plays but existing producing assets, which significantly reduces risk. Financing may be challenging because our planned investments are approaching USD 1 billion, but geopolitical factors and strong partnerships are helping us engage with partners to structure deals and secure funding.

How do you see the role of independents evolving in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector?
The distinction between indigenous and international players is becoming less relevant, particularly as Nigerian companies scale and IOCs shed assets. Some independents are already producing at levels comparable to mid-sized international companies, with outputs as high as 250,000 bopd in some cases.
Nigeria currently produces around 1.4 million bopd, with independents contributing approximately 600,000 bopd, and the share could go as high as 1 million bopd in the near future. A key factor is that many divested assets have been underinvested for years. Some fields are believed to hold close to 1 billion barrels, yet have been hardly developed. New operators are entering with fresh capital and a focus on optimisation, and are finding opportunities to increase production significantly.

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