Nigeria is intensifying efforts to attract new upstream capital and revive crude output, with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) having held exploratory talks with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) on potential financing.

NUPRC chief executive Gbenga Komolafe recently met with Chuba Ezenwa, Bank of America’s Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking for Sub-Saharan Africa, at the regulator’s headquarters.

“Nigeria is richly endowed with hydrocarbons and we seek to optimise production. But funding is critical to our success. So, we are looking for areas of alignment with the Bank of America,” Komolafe said in a statement.

Ezenwa is quoted as saying he is “encouraged” by the reforms under the leadership of the Commission Chief Executive and results in production that have sparked renewed interest in Nigeria’s upstream sector. “We will continue to explore opportunities to provide support,” he said.

The talks form part of a broader initiative to address capital constraints across the oil and gas sector. Komolafe has said limited access to long-term capital remains a key constraint for operators seeking to develop new reserves or enhance output from existing assets.

Officials have said more than $13bn worth of upstream developments are currently in various stages of approval and financing discussion, including brownfield optimisation and deep-water pre-final investment decision (pre-FID) projects.

The Federal Government now targets up to $20bn in new oil and gas investments by 2030 and has set an ambitious short-term production goal of 2.5mn bpd by 2026. The engagement with the Bank of America aligns with ongoing reforms under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 towards that goal, CSL Stockbrokers Limited said in a note to clients on October 29.

“After years of underinvestment, crude theft, and pipeline vandalism that pushed production below 1.3mn barrels per day (bpd) in 2022, Nigeria has seen a gradual recovery supported by regulatory reforms and improved security measures,”  CSL said. “However, risks persist.”

Average crude oil production declined to 1.39mn bpd in September from 1.43mn bpd in August, marking the second consecutive monthly drop and remaining below Nigeria’s OPEC+ quota of 1.5mn bpd. Including condensates, total production slipped to 1.58mn bpd in September from 1.63mn bpd in August, the brokerage noted.

“Despite these challenges, recent months have brought positive investment signals that could help Nigeria achieve its medium-term production target. The NUPRC has introduced incentives to fast-track project approvals, revive dormant oil fields, and attract new investments in deep-water exploration,” CSL said.

“Major international oil companies are reportedly in advanced talks to inject billions of dollars into upstream development, infrastructure upgrades, and asset revitalisation projects. If sustained, these initiatives could support higher production levels.”

Nigeria’s upstream landscape is undergoing a structural shift as onshore assets are divested and taken up by indigenous operators, while deep-water and gas developments increasingly anchor new investment strategies.

Regulatory reforms under the Petroleum Industry Act and recent NUPRC incentives have accelerated deal-flow and project approvals, enabling Nigerian companies Seplat Energy (LSE:SEPL, NGX:SEPLAT), Oando PLC (NGX:OANDO), ND Western (private) and First E&P (private) to expand their roles in asset operations and field redevelopment.

At the same time, major international oil companies are not exiting Nigeria entirely. Shell (LON:SHEL), ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), TotalEnergies (EPA:TTE) and Eni (BIT:ENI) are increasingly repositioning towards offshore, lower-risk, higher-margin projects, reflecting a broader rebalancing of portfolio risk and capital allocation across the sector.