Onome Amuge
ExxonMobil is set to announce a new wave of upstream investments in Nigeria as part of a major push to boost crude oil production in the West African nation. The energy major will detail its plans at the 2025 African Energy Week (AEW) in Cape Town, where it is a diamond sponsor.
The company’s strategy in Nigeria focuses on optimising output from existing deepwater assets, such as the Erha and Owowo fields, while advancing exploration in new offshore blocks. This aligns with the Nigerian government’s drive to attract capital and increase national oil output.
ExxonMobil’s presence at the conference, which is themed “Invest in African Energies,” will also serve as a platform to provide updates on its key projects in Angola and Mozambique and showcase its educational initiatives across the continent.
Beyond its Nigerian operations, the US-based integrated energy company is reinforcing its footprint elsewhere in Africa. In Angola, it has secured long-term contract extensions for the deepwater Block 15, home to the Kizomba development, and Block 17 in partnership with TotalEnergies. These renewals are central to the Angolan government’s strategy to maintain production levels from its mature fields.
In East Africa, ExxonMobil is progressing with the long-anticipated Rovuma LNG project in Mozambique’s offshore Area 4. The development, expected to reach a final investment decision in 2026, would add 18 million tonnes per year of LNG capacity to global markets. This project supports the African Union’s vision of natural gas as a critical transitional fuel for both export revenue and domestic power generation.
ExxonMobil’s commitments extend beyond operational projects to include significant investment in human capital. The company will also present its STEM Africa programme, an educational initiative designed to build the continent’s technical workforce.
Launched in 2024 by the ExxonMobil Foundation and Junior Achievement Africa, the programme provides hands-on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics training to students in Nigeria, Namibia, Angola, and Mozambique. It has already reached over 3,000 students, with 96 per cent expressing interest in pursuing STEM careers, earning it a Local Impact Award at the recent Big Five Board Awards in London.
NJ Ayuk, executive chairman of the African Energy Chamber, noted that ExxonMobil’s blend of upstream investment and educational initiatives “demonstrates how private sector companies can support both short-term production goals and longer-term development objectives.”
“This is the type of strategic partnership Africa’s energy sector requires,” Ayuk stated.
ExxonMobil’s participation in AEW 2025 comes amid ongoing debate over the pace of the energy transition in Africa. Many resource-rich countries are seeking to increase oil and gas output to fund renewable energy projects and domestic infrastructure, positioning natural gas as a transitional fuel under the Africa Gas Master Plan.
Discussions at the conference will likely touch on how companies like ExxonMobil can balance capturing export revenues from offshore operations and LNG projects with the need to integrate lower-carbon technologies and prioritise domestic energy access.
