$7 Billion in Oil Debt Has Nigerian Banks Holding Back Lending

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A few Nigerian oil and gas companies owe local banks about $7 billion, and the fallout is reaching well beyond those borrowers, according to billionaire Aliko Dangote. Most…

Julianne Geiger is a veteran energy journalist and market analyst with more than a decade of experience covering the global oil and gas sector. Her…

A few Nigerian oil and gas companies owe local banks about $7 billion, and the fallout is reaching well beyond those borrowers, according to billionaire Aliko Dangote.

Most domestic bank financing for the industry is now on hold, Dangote told the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists conference in Lagos Wednesday.

“A few companies, I believe, owe the banks about $7bn,” he said. “As a result, most funding from our domestic banks is on hold.”

Dangote offered no names or breakdown of the debt, nor did he say how much was overdue.

Nigeria has some ambitious plans for its oil industry. The government wants crude production at 3 million barrels per day by 2030. The latest numbers, released Wednesday, put October output at 1.51 million bpd, down from 1.53 million in September.

Nigeria produced just enough crude in October to meet its 1.5 million-bpd OPEC quota, something it has now managed for six consecutive months. Dangote wants to see considerably more production than that. He called the government’s 3 million-bpd target for 2030 too modest, pointing out that Nigeria once had its sights set on 4.2 million bpd by 2024.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission is offering 40 blocks in its 2026 licensing round, saying last month that 22 recent awardees were expected to bring at least 250,000 bpd online within five years.

Dangote sees the need for more exploration and local technical expertise and has called for fewer surprises from policymakers. He is also pressing banks to extend more credit to Nigerian-owned operators so they don’t have to chase foreign financing.

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