Greetings and welcome to the website of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) in Nigeria, a subgroup of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). We are pleased to have your interest in our group.

OPTS is a private industry group that is dedicated to the exploration, development, and production of Nigeria’s oil and gas resources in a sustainable and beneficial manner for the Nigerian people. We represent the interests of 29 oil and gas companies that collectively operate approximately 85% of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry production, in partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) or local and international lease holders.

OPTS takes pride in its significant contribution to Nigeria’s position as the largest oil producer in Africa and the 7th largest Liquefied Natural Gas producer in the world. We are honored to be able to contribute, along with the wider oil and gas industry, to approximately half of all Nigerian Government revenues and 85% of the country’s foreign exchange. OPTS members are committed to protecting the environment by conducting safe and dependable operations that adhere to industry standards and comply with government laws and regulations. Additionally, members are actively working towards achieving zero routine gas flaring and reducing emissions. You will also notice that several of our members have ventured into new energy sources within Nigeria while evolving with the global trend towards cleaner and more affordable energy.

At OPTS, we are passionate about the implementation of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals because we understand that business success is intertwined with societal progress. To that end, our members are committed to fostering positive relationships with our host communities and collaborating with the government and the people to address gaps in accessing social amenities that promote and sustain good quality livelihoods.

Through their respective Corporate Social Responsibility programs, OPTS members continue their commitments towards social responsibility and human capital development, such as awarding local and international scholarships to Nigerian students, investing into educational and medical programs, and contributing to community and social development projects and programs.

Members of this group have also been fulfilling the government’s objective of increasing local content, namely by developing human capital and expanding technical capability and resources.   Some examples include:

• Chevron having equipped several science laboratories and libraries in secondary schools. This initiative has contributed to the education of more than 16,000 students across 33 states.
• ExxonMobil having delivered training to over 700 industry technicians at the Eket Technical Training Centre, and more recently started offering financial aid and scholarship programs to Nigerian students enrolled in undergraduate studies through the Exxon Mobil Scholarship for Nigerian Undergraduates program.
• Total Energies having launched the L.E.A.D. Programme, aiming to bridge the gap between learning and the on-site realities of the industry, and the Koko Scholarship Program, ensuring access to quality secondary education. It also continues to support the Institute of Petroleum Studies at the University of Port Harcourt.
• In 2022, Shell invested 5.6M USD into education programs, and has awarded thousands of educational grants in Nigeria.
• ENI offers scholarships to secondary school students in its areas of operations through its Bursary scheme and to undergraduate students through its Undergraduate Scholarship scheme.
• Seplat Energy having invested ~USD 64m into healthcare, capacity building, infrastructure development and environmental stewardship initiatives since 2010.
• First E&P engages with communities by providing local trainings and enhance local capabilities through youth empowerment and community employment.
• Oando, actively engages with educational empowerment, having awarded over 1k scholarships and trained 2.8k teachers, with over 580k beneficiaries to date.

We work closely with the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board to ensure we achieve the local content mandate. This we know will create more jobs for Nigerians and shore up the technical expertise available in-country. We continue to invest in different training and education programs for Nigerians to be able to excel in local content as we want to create over 300,000 additional direct and indirect jobs over the course of the decade, having already created ~600,000 jobs for Nigerians over the past 10 years.

In 2021, Nigeria launched its ‘Decade of Gas’ (DoG) initiative. The industry is collaborating with all stakeholders through the DoG program to unlock Nigeria’s vast gas potential. Since the inception of the program, notable milestones have been achieved such as FID on a gas project to potentially provide 100 MMSCF/D to the domestic market, and the mechanical completion of the ANOH project. Members of OPTS are actively collaborating with the government and other stakeholders to unlock Nigeria’s approximately 200 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.

To ensure the continued stimulation of the economy, OPTS remains dedicated to advocating for collaboration between the industry and the government to address issues concerning the security of personnel and assets, as well as reducing operating expenses. Additionally, OPTS and its numerous partners are committed to unlocking Nigeria’s oil and gas resources, sustaining existing production, and investing in commercially competitive opportunities in an efficient, responsible, and cost-effective manner.

As a crucial component of the nation’s economy, OPTS members actively engage in partnerships and collaborations with one another, as well as with the government and other industry stakeholders. Together, we aim to develop Nigeria’s extensive oil and gas resources, fostering sustainable economic development and making positive contributions to the Nigerian economy.

Osagie Okunbor