NOG Energy Week 2026 records over $4.5 billion in deals, reinforcing Africa’s energy investment momentum
The 25th Anniversary edition of NOG Energy Week 2026 closed with more than $4.5 billion in deals signed, a record that firmly establishes the event’s role as the platform where the partnerships driving Africa’s energy growth are formed.
Themed “Forging Africa’s Strategic Energy Growth Through Global Collaboration,” this year’s edition converted a week of dialogue among senior government officials, regulators, national and international energy companies, investors, financiers, and technology providers into binding commitments across the energy value chain.
Gas and upstream projects dominate investment activity
Gas & LNG accounted for the largest share of total value at approximately 39%, followed by Upstream at 31%, Midstream at 16%, Engineering & Technology at 10%, and Downstream at 4%. The composition tells its own story: capital is prioritising gas development to spearhead Africa’s energy transition.
The deals signed during the Energy Alliance session further buttressed that position. The NNPC Limited and Seplat Energy Joint Venture signed a 15-year Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement with UTM FLNG Limited to supply 200 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, positioning Nigeria’s first floating LNG project for a Final Investment Decision in the fourth quarter of 2026.
ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria, with partners Chevron, TotalEnergies, and Nexen, announced a $1 billion investment commitment to the Usan Infill Project, a fast-track deepwater development expected to add 40,000 barrels per day to Nigeria’s output, marking the company’s first major drilling campaign in Nigeria since 2016.
During the week, NNPC Limited also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL), a Gas Sale and Aggregation Agreement with Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, and Network Entry Agreements with Chevron Nigeria Limited, AGPC, and NNPC Exploration & Production Limited (NEPL).
‘Igniting the engine of industrialisation’
Speaking at the signing ceremonies, Engr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, GCEO, NNPC Limited, stated: “What we are witnessing today is not just about signing agreements. It is about igniting the engine of Nigeria’s industrialisation.” He set the tone at the opening ceremony, noting: “This year’s NOG Energy Week theme could not be more timely. The conversation around collaboration, investment, and innovation remains central to unlocking Africa’s energy potential and delivering sustainable access for its people.”
For 25 years, NOG Energy Week has been the meeting point where Nigeria’s oil and gas industry negotiates its future, from the early years of building consensus around reform to creating an investment-attractive business environment. Each edition has compounded the trust and relationships that transactions of this magnitude require, and the 2026 results show what a quarter century of sustained convening can deliver.
Industry leaders outline the path forward
H.E. Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Federal Republic of Nigeria, paid tribute to that legacy: “I want to extend my gratitude to the visionaries who, 25 years ago, conceived the idea that Nigeria’s energy story deserved an identity of its own. That vision gave birth to the annual NOG Energy Week, and it is the reason we are all gathered here today.”
H.E. Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Federal Republic of Nigeria, framed the road ahead: “The future belongs not to economies that choose between energy security and sustainability, but to those that successfully deliver both. Natural gas has emerged as the indispensable bridge connecting these two objectives.”
From dialogue to deal-making
As Wemimo Oyelana, Portfolio & Country Director, dmg Nigeria Events, stated: “NOG Energy Week exists to spark the partnerships that move energy projects from ambition to delivery. Every deal signed this week is capital, jobs and energy security in motion for Nigeria and the continent.”
Twenty-five years after its first gathering, NOG Energy Week has moved from setting the agenda to closing deals. The $4.5 billion recorded this year is not a ceiling; it is a marker of how quickly Africa’s energy story is shifting from potential to delivery, and a signal to global capital that the continent’s next chapter is already being written, one transaction at a time.
