Retreats are where institutions come closest to being honest with themselves. They are an opportunity to ask not simply how we are performing, but whether we are becoming the institution Nigeria needs us to be. That is how I intend to use my time with you today. Let me begin by congratulating the Commission and indeed Nigeria, on two signi cant milestones. First, the one-billion-dollar commitment by Esso and its partners towards on block activities for the Usan In ll Project, the company’s rst major deepwater investment in Nigeria in a decade, which will unlock up to 40,000 more barrels of oil per day.

SPECIAL ADDRESS BY OLU AROWOLO VERHEIJEN, SPECIAL ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT ON OIL AND GAS AT THE 25TH NOG ENERGY WEEK CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION, HELD AT THE BOLA AHMED TINUBU INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE (ICC), ABUJA, JULY 7, 2026

Distinguished members of the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, Your Excellency the British Deputy High Commissioner, captains of industry, investors, regulators, development partners, ladies and gentlemen — good morning. We meet under a theme that captures both the challenge and the promise of our time: energy in Nigeria, from potential to reality. Nigeria has never lacked potential. We have oil. We have gas. We have sunlight, water, land, talent and scale. What we have lacked is conversion — the discipline to turn resources into results.