In April 2007, Africa’s most populous country and largest oil producer elected Umaru Yar’adua to the presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Yar’adua, who succeeds his political mentor, Olusegun Obasanjo, has as one of four national priorities the establishment of a Marshall type-plan for the violence plaguing the Niger Delta oil-producing region. To this end, he has kept the all-important energy portfolio in his own hands, while appointing a world-renowned expert on enhanced oil recovery techniques, Dr. Emmanuel Egbogah, as Special Advisor to the President on Petroleum. A Calgary resident, Dr. Egbogah will oversee the restructuring of Nigeria’s energy sector, including NAPCOM, the new national petroleum company. Egbogah has been forthright about the government’s wish to improve the terms of agreements signed with the oil majors when oil prices were at the $20-a-barrel mark: “The oil industry scenario today demands that everyone get a fair share.”

The new president inherits a promising economic and financial record. Under Obasanjo’s eight-year tutelage, the Nigerian economy reduced the country’s enormous international debt to $4 billion from $35 billion, consolidated the banking system, and significantly increased foreign direct investments. The country boasts an expanding stock exchange, economic growth of over 5 percent and vast foreign reserves of over $45 billion. GDP has grown almost 300 percent to around $100 billion a year since 1995. Over the next three years, annual economic growth should top seven percent as investments – particularly in energy-related sectors – increase. Should Nigeria sustain its current growth rates, it will be among the world’s top 20 economies by 2025. Goldman Sachs has placed Nigeria on its list of 12 developing countries to watch.

Petroleum report card

Crude oil: The current Nigerian production of 2.6 million barrel per day (mbbl/d) is the largest on the African continent followed by Algeria’s 2 mbbl/d, Libya’s 1.7 mbbl/d and Angola’s 1.2 mbbl/d. It is the fifth-ranked exporter of crude to the American market, with proven reserves estimated at 35 billion barrels, second only in Africa to Libya’s 39 billion. According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, Nigerian production capacity should reach 3 mbbl/d by 2008 and 5 mbbl/d by 2020.

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