TotalEnergies has said recent offshore oil developments in Nigeria demonstrate that local engineers, contractors and service providers now possess the technical capacity to execute complex energy projects to global standards.
The company pointed to the Egina deepwater oil field and the Ikike shallow-water development as strong evidence of Nigeria’s growing industrial competence in the oil and gas sector.
Speaking at the Nigeria International Energy Summit 2026 in Abuja, the Deputy General Manager for Nigerian Content at TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Cyprian Ojum, said the two projects marked a shift from symbolic local participation to genuine technical leadership.
Ojum made the remarks during a panel session focused on performance-driven local content under the Petroleum Industry Act, where discussions centred on strengthening indigenous capacity and expanding the role of Nigerian businesses in major energy projects.
According to him, TotalEnergies deliberately embedded capacity development into project planning, ensuring that local participation translated into skills transfer, infrastructure growth and long-term value retention within the country.
He explained that the Egina project, one of Nigeria’s largest deepwater developments, was designed not only to deliver production capacity but also to accelerate human and industrial development. As part of the project, hundreds of Nigerians were trained in specialised offshore and fabrication skills that are now being applied across the wider industry.
Ojum said Egina now contributes close to a tenth of TotalEnergies’ global oil output, highlighting the strategic importance of the asset and the scale of value created locally during its execution.
He added that the Ikike project further demonstrated how local capacity, once developed, can be sustained and expanded. Unlike Egina, Ikike was executed with Nigerian professionals leading most stages of the development cycle, achieving an estimated local content level of about 95 per cent.
“The Ikike project shows that Nigerians can take ownership of field development from engineering to execution when capacity is built intentionally over time,” he said, noting that lessons learned from earlier projects played a major role in Ikike’s success.
The TotalEnergies executive outlined the company’s local content strategy as being anchored on three key pillars: targeted skills development aligned with industry needs, deliberate retention of project value within Nigeria, and close collaboration with local contractors and regulators to meet and exceed regulatory benchmarks.
He stressed that local content should be treated as a core business philosophy rather than a regulatory obligation, adding that project success should be measured by how much expertise and economic value remain in-country after completion.
Egina, located far offshore in deep waters, is operated by TotalEnergies in partnership with NNPC Limited and other international and local stakeholders. The field began production in late 2018 and is designed to produce up to 200,000 barrels of oil per day at peak. A major feature of the project was the construction and integration of Nigeria’s largest Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel, parts of which were fabricated locally.
Ikike, on the other hand, is a shallow-water field tied to existing offshore infrastructure, allowing for faster development and reduced costs. Production from the field began in 2022 and is expected to reach up to 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Ojum noted that both projects were executed in line with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act, which requires operators to prioritise value retention, skills transfer and local participation across multiple service categories.
He said early engagement with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board played a critical role in aligning project plans with realistic and achievable local content targets.
Meanwhile, concerns were raised at the summit over persistent delays in oil and gas contracting processes.
The Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria, Wole Ogunsanya, said regulatory bottlenecks were slowing project execution despite presidential directives aimed at reducing approval timelines.
Ogunsanya said several projects expected to commence in the coming years remain stalled due to prolonged internal approvals, delayed investment decisions and extended regulatory procedures.
He called for stronger oversight to ensure contracting processes align with government timelines, warning that continued delays could dampen investor confidence in the sector.
