The oil and gas industry in Nigeria is set to begin shaping a new framework for local content implementation beyond 2027. The Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) Forum 2026 will bring together government, regulators, international oil companies, indigenous operators, and service companies to determine priorities for the next decade. This year's forum comes as local content performance has reached 61 percent under the Nigerian Content Strategic Roadmap 2017–2027, with the country targeting 70 percent.
The forum is timely, given renewed investment in the upstream sector, including Shell's $2 billion HI Field project and the $5 billion Bonga North project. Indigenous operators are increasingly taking over assets divested by international oil companies. Wemimo Oyelana, Portfolio and Country Director, dmg Nigeria Events, emphasized that the industry must shift its focus from measuring past achievements to determining what is required to sustain and deepen the gains.
Fifteen years of Nigerian Content implementation have demonstrated what sustained policy, regulatory commitment, and industry collaboration can achieve. As the current Roadmap approaches its conclusion, the conversation must now move beyond measuring progress to defining what the next decade requires. PNC 2026 provides a platform for stakeholders to collectively shape priorities, from funding and project delivery to policy frameworks needed to sustain and deepen progress.
The forum will focus on four major priorities: mobilising capital, project opportunities, advancing Nigerian Content, and policy and legislation. Discussions on capital mobilisation will examine how improved access to finance, stronger financial partnerships, and innovative funding structures can enable indigenous companies to scale operations, compete for larger contracts, and execute increasingly complex projects.
Stakeholders will also explore ways to improve visibility of procurement plans, strengthen supplier development, and deepen collaboration between operators and indigenous businesses to unlock opportunities across the energy value chain. The forum is expected to examine strategies for closing existing capacity gaps, improving competitiveness, and accelerating industrialisation through local content.
On policy and legislation, participants will consider how Nigeria's regulatory framework can respond to changing market conditions, technological developments, and investor expectations while supporting investment, compliance, and sustainable growth. The forum will feature strategic leadership panels, executive debates, a town hall, breakout sessions, and a Local Content Impact Stage.
Among the speakers expected at the forum are the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Felix Omatsola Ogbe; Shell Companies in Nigeria's EVP and Country Chair, Elohor Aiboni; and Chevron Nigeria-Mid-Africa Business Unit Chairman and Managing Director, Jim Swartz. With Nigeria's local content drive approaching a critical transition point, the forum is expected to provide an avenue for stakeholders to define financing, policy, investment, and capacity-building priorities that will shape the next phase of implementation.
Key points
- The PNC 2026 forum aims to set priorities for the next phase of Nigerian content implementation, focusing on funding, project opportunities, industrial capacity, and regulatory reforms.
