Chairman Adeyemi-Bero Urges Value Chain Shift as Dangote’s Boom Proves the Point – But Will Producers Pivot?
In a clarion cry that’s reverberating from Lagos boardrooms to the rusting rigs of the Niger Delta, Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, Nigeria’s freshly minted OPEC Board Chairman for 2025, has thrown down the gauntlet: Halt the raw crude exodus and crank up domestic refining to claw back economic glory. Delivering the keynote at the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) Pre-Conference Workshop in Lagos on November 5, 2025, the CEO of First Exploration & Petroleum Development Company didn’t sugarcoat it – after half a century of shipping black gold abroad only to import refined misery, it’s time for Naija to keep the value in-house. For the oil-soaked South-South – where communities choke on spills while Abuja cashes export checks – this isn’t abstract econ-speak; it’s a blueprint to break the curse, channeling crude’s curse into creekside prosperity amid naira nosedives and refinery rebirths.
Adeyemi-Bero, whose December 2024 OPEC nod cements Nigeria’s global clout, skewered the status quo: “We’ve been an oil and gas exporting country. We produced oil; once there was oil, we put it in a tank and sent it abroad. 40 or 50 years later, people blame Shell and others, but I don’t. They are businesses looking for feedstock for their industrialisation.” Spot on for the Delta, where IOCs like Shell have siphoned 70% of Nigeria’s crude from our bays, leaving Bayelsa and Rivers with poisoned fish and petrol queues. He hailed President Tinubu’s subsidy slash as a masterstroke enabled by Dangote Refinery’s 650,000 bpd behemoth: “Just look at the impact on foreign exchange and GDP growth. You can imagine if that had happened 50 years ago.” Without it? “I’m sure he would have changed his policies and gone back to subsidies.”
From Export Trap to Value Vault: Lessons from UAE to UAE
The OPEC honcho’s roadmap mirrors the playbook of petro-peers: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Malaysia, Brazil – all bulking up refineries to hoard downstream dollars. “We need to decline exports,” he hammered, warning that without this pivot, Nigeria’s $1tn economy dream fizzles. Sell crude in naira? “If we can sell some oil in naira, let’s do it if it works for both parties. The strength of the naira is what it commands in trade.” For Delta producers – indigenous outfits like Aiteo or Famfa eyeing marginal fields – it’s rocket fuel: Stabilize the currency battered by 34% inflation, slash import bills (N1tn+ yearly on fuel, per Punch), and spawn jobs from Warri welders to Port Harcourt chemists.
NAPE President Johnbosco Uche set the stage, underscoring the workshop’s theme: “Revitalising Nigerian Petroleum Exploration and Production Strategies for Energy Security and Sustainable Development.” Near-term? Ramp to 3 million bpd – but sustain it via tech excellence. “In the near term, we need to increase production… But most importantly, sustaining that production is also key.” Adeyemi-Bero echoed: IOCs have primed the pump; now locals must prime the economy. “The internationals have done their bit. But God decided to hand over to Nigerians… The baton has been placed in our hands.”
Delta’s Crude Crossroads: Boom or Bust in the Black Gold Bayous?
This lands like lightning in the Niger Delta, where crude’s bounty birthed billions but barren futures – 40% youth joblessness, mangrove massacres, and gas flares gassing Gokana villages. Dangote’s diesel deluge has eased queues in Yenagoa, but modular refineries in Bayelsa and Edo limp at 20% capacity, starved by export quotas and upstream snarls. PANDEF chiefs and #EndBadGovernance youth see Adeyemi-Bero’s blueprint as balm: Local refining could fund HYPREP cleanups (fresh Ogoni water flop notwithstanding), spawn petrochemical parks in Ogidigben, and tame the FX vampire sucking our FX reserves dry.
Yet, hurdles loom: Upstream investment lags (1.38mbpd in October, per OPEC), vandalism vampires pipelines, and policy ping-pong spooks suitors. If producers heed – slashing exports for in-country cracks – it could turbocharge Tinubu’s $1tn vision, with energy access as the engine. “Without electricity, without fuel, the economy is not going to grow,” Adeyemi-Bero nailed. For Delta Deltans, long the hewers of wood in this oil odyssey, it’s existential: Refine or remain raw?
Niger Delta Herald’s take? This OPEC olive branch is overdue – grab it, or watch wealth wave goodbye. Producers: Your move – naira for crude, or crude for crumbs? Delta drillers, drop your drill bits’ wisdom below. Tag @OPEC, rally the refine revolution.
