TotalEnergies has played a major role in improving Nigeria’s deepwater oil production through consistent investments and operational efficiencies, the company’s Deputy Managing Director, Deepwater, Victor Bandele, has said.

Speaking during the Management Session of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) Annual Conference in Lagos, Bandele highlighted how the International Oil Company (IOC) has contributed significantly to Nigeria’s output through a series of landmark deepwater projects.

He recalled that TotalEnergies took the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Akpo field in 2003 and successfully delivered first oil in 2009. The Usan field followed with first oil in 2012, while Egina—one of Nigeria’s largest deepwater developments—came on stream in 2018. Each of these projects features dedicated Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) units, underscoring the company’s sustained commitment to offshore development.

Bandele noted that TotalEnergies has strengthened its operational capacity with every additional FPSO deployed, achieving higher efficiency through synergies created by running multiple deepwater assets simultaneously.

He however pointed out that while countries such as Angola and others in the Gulf of Guinea continue to push deepwater development, Nigeria has slowed down. Since the completion of the Egina project, no new FPSO has been sanctioned—a gap he believes could have been bridged earlier if the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) had been implemented sooner.

The DMD emphasized the need for Nigeria to keep expanding investment opportunities, citing ongoing work on projects such as Bonga involving various partners. He called on the government to open up the space to encourage more deepwater activity.

According to him, TotalEnergies remains the only operator currently drilling in Nigeria’s deepwater terrain, with ongoing operations on Akpo and Egina over the past two years. Increased activity by multiple operators, he said, would create stronger synergies and ultimately enhance overall efficiency.

Bandele reaffirmed the company’s commitment to maximizing its assets, noting that the Egina FPSO alone has the capacity to produce 200,000 barrels of oil per day. He also revealed that TotalEnergies and its partners have scheduled new exploration drilling for next year.

He stressed that collaboration among operators is crucial for driving growth, but such collaboration can only thrive when there is sufficient activity across deep and shallow offshore spaces.

“We need to support ourselves and there should be sharing and collaboration, but you will only share what you have. Let’s have a lot so that we can share a lot,” he said.