The Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Engr. Wole Ogunsanya, has called on indigenous oil and gas companies to consolidate their technical and financial capacities to compete for bigger projects and take advantage of opportunities arising from the divestment of oil and gas assets.
Ogunsanya said Nigerian companies could not continue to operate as fragmented small players if they wanted to compete for projects worth millions and billions of dollars, stressing that consolidation would enable them to build stronger brands and deliver larger contracts.
Speaking during a panel session at the 2026 NAEC Energy Conference, he observed that the growth of local content had created more Nigerian players in the industry, but noted that the next stage should be to build companies with the scale required to handle major projects.
According to him, indigenous companies should pool their capacities where individual firms do not have the resources to execute large contracts.
“What we are starting, and have started, is what we call Technical Interest Groups (TIGs). What this means is that members providing similar services are grouped together,” he said.
He explained that where a company had the capacity to execute only part of a major contract, other companies within the group could combine their capabilities to deliver the full project.
“We say, look, if there is a $10 million job and you can only do $2 million, all other members within your Technical Interest Group should come together and ensure that you deliver that job at cost and on time,” Ogunsanya said.
He said the approach had already been applied in the fabrication sector, where indigenous companies combined their capabilities to build local fabrication capacity and compete for work that had previously been carried out outside Nigeria.
Ogunsanya said the experience showed that local companies could build the capacity required for larger projects if they worked together rather than maintaining fragmented capabilities.
He said consolidation was particularly important as Nigeria attracted larger investments and projects, adding that indigenous companies needed to grow into stronger players capable of handling opportunities at scale.
“We have many players in the industry. At a point, we have to consolidate,” he said.
The PETAN chairman said the process could involve mergers and other forms of collaboration, similar to the consolidation that took place in Nigeria’s banking sector, where institutions combined resources to build stronger entities.
“I see that happening within the industry as these opportunities emerge and mergers take place,” he said.
However, Ogunsanya stressed that consolidation should not prevent new companies from entering the industry.
“The intention is not to prevent other people from coming in. The consolidation is what will help us make sure we are prepared for these big projects that we are looking forward to,” he said.
His position also extended to the ownership of oil and gas assets, as he called for indigenous companies to be given first consideration when assets are divested.
“When assets are going to be divested, the indigenous companies should be considered first,” Ogunsanya said.
He said greater participation by Nigerian companies in both oilfield services and asset ownership would help retain more value within the domestic economy and deepen the development of local capacity.
Ogunsanya said the objective should not only be to have more Nigerian companies in the industry, but to develop indigenous firms with the scale, capacity and financial strength to compete for major opportunities across the oil and gas value chain.