Business & Economy

Nigeria Sitting on $227bn Untapped Oil Reserves as Debt Soars Past N149tn

Nigeria is sitting on more than 3.5 billion barrels of undeveloped oil and condensate reserves worth about $227.5bn (₦341.25tn), even as the nation’s debt stock has surged to a record ₦149.39tn.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), in a new publication, revealed that the reserves remain trapped across different basins, alongside 18.8 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas reserves. At the current average crude price of $65 per barrel, the value of these idle resources dwarfs Nigeria’s 2025 budget of ₦54.9tn by over 600 per cent.

For context, the amount locked underground could build more than two million primary health centres at ₦150m each, five million classroom blocks at ₦65m apiece, or 413,000 kilometres of roads at ₦825m per kilometre.

Despite this, Nigeria continues to grapple with a ₦13tn budget deficit, spiralling borrowings, and chronic fuel import dependence. Data from the Debt Management Office shows the country’s public debt climbed by ₦27.72tn within a year, from ₦121.67tn in Q1 2024 to ₦149.39tn in Q1 2025 — a 22.8 per cent jump, worsened by naira depreciation.

Analysis of the NUPRC’s data shows that 52 per cent of deepwater oil and gas fields remain undeveloped, while only 25 per cent are developed and 23 per cent are tagged as “development in view.” This underdevelopment, experts warn, is draining government revenues and leaving the economy heavily dependent on loans.

Speaking at the 50th anniversary of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), the Group CEO of NNPC Ltd, Bayo Ojulari, stressed that crude in the ground holds no value until extracted. Represented by Executive Vice-President, Upstream, Udobong Ntia, Ojulari urged urgent action:

“Our oil in the ground doesn’t matter to anybody. It has to convert to cash for the country to benefit. We’ve had oil in the ground for so long. It’s time to get the deals that will bring it out.”

NAPE President, Johnbosco Uche, called on regulators to hold annual licensing rounds to attract investors, insisting that Nigeria’s Niger Delta remains one of the most prolific basins in the world.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has threatened to revoke oil blocks left idle for decades, urging International Oil Companies and local operators to ramp up production or risk forfeiting assets.

With 220 oil blocks — including 59 in deep offshore terrain — still unlicensed, experts argue Nigeria must urgently unlock its vast hydrocarbon wealth or risk sinking deeper into debt while sitting on one of the world’s richest reserves.

Mike Ojo

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