Oando eyes $750m to boost production amid shifting global oil dynamics

OANDO is seeking to secure as much as $750 million in funding this year to drive an ambitious drilling programme. Chief Executive Officer, Mr Wale Tinubu, projects output could rise by up to 300 percent and believes current global conditions present a favourable window for expansion.

Shifting geopolitical tensions, particularly the ongoing Iran conflict and its impact on global energy supply chains, have reshaped investor sentiment. West Africa, once viewed by European investors as a risky frontier, is increasingly being reconsidered as a more stable alternative.

According to Tinubu, the company is intensifying efforts to obtain the financing needed to execute a large-scale drilling campaign, noting that Africa appears relatively stable compared to other volatile regions.

Oando recorded an average production of slightly above 32,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025. It plans to drill up to 100 new wells, focusing largely on assets acquired from ConocoPhillips and Eni, acquisitions that followed a broader trend of international oil companies exiting Nigeria’s onshore sector. Indigenous firms like Oando have increasingly filled that gap.

Over the last decade, Oando raised between $3 billion and $4 billion, mainly from European lenders, with most of the capital deployed toward acquisitions rather than drilling activities.

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However, that source of funding has significantly declined as European banks pull back from financing fossil fuel projects in Africa due to climate-related pressures. This shift has forced the company to explore alternative funding channels.

Oando is now tapping a more diverse pool of financiers, including African Export-Import Bank, African Finance Corporation, and global commodity traders such as Vitol, Trafigura, Glencore, and Mercuria. Even so, Tinubu acknowledged that Africa still lacks sufficient long-term capital for large upstream oil developments.

He noted that banks in the Gulf region are increasingly stepping in to support African energy deals, while private equity and hedge funds are also showing growing interest in the sector.

Tinubu also advocated for mobilising domestic funding sources, such as pension funds, to finance major energy and infrastructure projects. Beyond Nigeria, Oando has expanded into Angola and is exploring opportunities in Ghana and Ivory Coast.

Nigeria remains Africa’s top oil producer, with total crude and condensate output of around 1.6 million barrels per day. The disruption caused by the Iran conflict, including the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, is already redirecting crude flows, with more Nigerian exports heading toward Asia to compensate for constrained Gulf supplies.

Tinubu expects these shifts to persist regardless of any ceasefire, arguing that ongoing geopolitical instability will continue to highlight the strategic importance of West Africa’s oil reserves.