Nigerian OPEC Governor Ademola Adeyemi-Bero has urged NOCs to recalibrate their compass, shifting from the long-held pursuit of maximum hydrocarbon output to a more sustainable model, centred on near-zero emissions.
He was speaking at an executive dinner hosted by international law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth in London, marking the close of the Association of International Energy Negotiators’ (AIEN’s) NOC Conference, a premier gathering of more than 30 NOCs, government officials and private-sector partners.
“We need to use oil and gas to get out of oil and gas,” Adeyemi-Bero told participants at the dinner, outlining a strategic roadmap for NOCs to lead in a “just” energy transition. He emphasised that gas must remain central to this transformation, describing it as the essential fuel of the transition.
He added that meeting international emissions standards is now not just an environmental imperative but a financial one, as access to capital increasingly depends on demonstrable progress towards decarbonisation.
Adeyemi-Bero’s remarks come as state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NOC) pursues an ambitious target of attracting $60b in investment by 2030, with a focus on upstream expansion, gas infrastructure and partnerships under its refinery sustainability programme to enhance energy security across Nigeria and the wider region.
“So the question for NOCs is, how do we produce oil and gas in as safe a way as possible, and how do we concentrate on that transition, for oil and gas? And in doing all of this, our emissions must be almost zero if we can.”
Integrated value chains
Recognising the right of emerging economies such as Nigeria to monetise their resources, Adeyemi-Bero said NOCs must use oil and gas production to meet revenue goals while reinvesting those gains in renewables and technology. Such a balanced approach, he said, is vital for sustained, inclusive growth.
“How can we ask national communities to invest in carbon capture, in green hydrogen and technologies if they cannot generate enough revenue to feed their populations?”
Adeyemi-Bero pointed out that, in order to achieve this, NOCs must tap into the integrated nature of the oil and gas value chain. “We really have to shift from being an oil-exporting country and then start to look at what is the integrated nature of the value chain and how do you participate in that? I am not a believer that you can use all your oil that you have in your own country, because naturally you may have to import. So, you have to get the right balance,” he added.
He pointed to recent private sector initiatives, such as the construction of new refineries, as examples of how local investment can drive growth, retain value within the domestic economy and lay the foundation for long-term development.
Adeyemi-Bero stated that NOCs’ are responsible for designing fiscal incentive frameworks to make domestic energy projects commercially viable. To accelerate sustainable growth, NOCs must take an active role in shaping solutions that keep more value within their own economies.
“Because without energy and power, you are going to stall what I call the chain economy growth. So, the importance is for us to recognise that. We have to get that balance, and we have to start to move down the chain. I sit in OPEC, and I look at the countries that have major resource movements. You take the Saudis, UAE, Kuwait—they completely changed the narrative. So, national companies must borrow from that.”
Partnerships
Adeyemi-Bero described oil and gas as a “terrain of partnerships” and underscored the critical role of collaboration between NOCs and IOCs in achieving shared goals, calling it “a partnership of everyone, both the IOCs and the NOCs”.
“The oil and gas industry really is in transition,” he added. “We now have to do it together—be smarter, with better technology and better investments. And, to really make this industry work, it is a partnership of everyone, both the IOCs and the NOCs.”
These evolving partnerships are reshaping the industry’s legal and governance landscape, said Simon Collier partner at Hunton Andrews Kurth. “Many NOCs now have the technical competency and experience to do all that an IOC has to do,” he added. “These are partnerships of equals, which would not have been the case previously.”
Charles Morrison, head of oil & gas for EMEA at Hunton Andrews Kurth, added that sustaining these partnerships requires a fair and stable regulatory environment. “When we talk about legal frameworks, what is important is having a well-balanced legal framework,” he said. “Petroleum legislation in the country must be well balanced, while at the same time understanding the challenges that IOCs face and how they operate in the business market. Getting the balance right between the legitimate interests of the state and the citizen that owns the hydrocarbons, and those that make monetisation possible, is crucial.”
“In my career as an oil and gas lawyer, I have seen what the [Nigerian] petroleum industry has built under the Petroleum Industry Act 2022, and how that represents a major change in oil and gas,” Collier said. “NNPC became a limited company, creating greater separation from government and a different governance structure than there previously had been. There has also been a complete change of management. There are now people in leadership who have held senior roles in the Nigerian arms of IOCs, which shows a real governance change and modernisation.”
Hunton Andrews Kurth has long advised governments, NOCs and financial institutions on structuring upstream and midstream projects that attract international capital while maintaining sovereign control.
Collaboration and capacity
Reflecting on the legacy of international participation in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, Adeyemi-Bero described it as a “massive gift”, citing the critical role IOCs have played in building capacity and developing the workforce.
Adeyemi-Bero noted that effective collaboration goes beyond financial investment, highlighting the transfer of knowledge and institutional credibility that accompany such partnerships. “When IOCs evolve, they bring capital, knowledge and credibility, and that credibility opens the door for the next wave that comes behind them,” he said.
Vandana Gangaram Panday, director of Surinamese regulator the Staatsolie Hydrocarbon Institute, reinforced this perspective, noting that partnerships are becoming more critical as global investment patterns shift. The role of NOCs, she said, “is definitely changing from past decades”. With IOCs prioritising shareholder returns, “much of the new investment in the oil and gas upstream industry will likely come from NOCs”. In this context, she added, NOCs “are becoming more prominent… and the key message is more partnerships—among [NOCs] and also between national and international companies.”
OPEC’s role
As Nigeria’s representative within OPEC, Adeyemi-Bero also highlighted the organisation’s vital role in maintaining price stability, a mission he said is “more relevant than ever”.
“OPEC is a partnership of many countries with different aspirations,” he said. “But they see the value in coming together to get the right balance between demand and supply.”
Drawing on his experience, Adeyemi-Bero noted the organisation’s strength in aligning diverse producers around a shared goal. “Some countries can produce more than they do, but they are willing not to for the sake of balance and market stability,” he added.
He described OPEC as “a massive engine that understands the dynamics of demand, politics and crisis”, underscoring its central role in ensuring stability and partnership—key pillars he sees shaping NOCs strategy.
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