Nigeria's push to shorten oil and gas contracting cycles to six months under the Presidential Executive Order on Local Content has remained stuck between policy intent and project delivery as the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the chief implementing agency, has been delaying activating the policy.
THISDAY's findings showed that till date, the contracting cycle still lasts well longer than the six months period provided by the presidential directive, with attendant disincentive to industry players.
The delay has sparked concern and frustration among industry operators and service companies who warned that it was eroding confidence and slowing investment inflow into the industry that is seriously searching for fresh capital deployment to the sector.
Signed in March 2023, the Executive Order was designed to cut Nigeria's notoriously long contracting cycle to six months, reduce project costs, and make the country competitive for upstream capital.
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The directive mandated NCDMB, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and other agencies to streamline approvals, eliminate duplication, and enforce timelines.
Although there has been an increase in contracting activities since Q4 2024, with more expressions of interest, tenders, pre-qualifications, and technical/commercial evaluations moving through the system, service companies and operators say the tempo is not translating into timely contract awards and project execution.
A chief executive of one of the indigenous oil service firms, who spoke to THISDAY on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation, said that implementation of the six-month contracting cycle directive has been lagging despite ongoing reforms in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.
"There is an ongoing change that is happening within the contracting cycle. Yes, the president gave an order for the contracting cycle to be cut to six months, which is a laudable one. But the delay by NCDMB in implementing this is the problem.
"They keep telling the investment community that there is such a policy in place, which is good. But in actual fact, they are not delivering that six-month contracting cycle. It is a concern to everybody that is waiting for that moment to be fast-tracked, but as we talk, it's not all that implemented as they tell people," the source said.
He said pressure must be mounted on regulators to meet the six-month target. "It's a gradual process. I'm not writing them off, but we keep on emphasising that and keep on giving them pressure to drive that change so that we can achieve that target," he added.
His assessment aligned with findings from a recent study by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) which concluded that, "the rate of contracting is not matching the Presidential Directive of 6 months after award for five years with renewal option of 2 years."
THISDAY gathered that NCDMB appears to be favouring some entrenched interests among the contractors, particularly those whose contracts are still running, and they want the contract to continue. NCDMB did not respond to THISDAY's inquiry on the matter as of the time of filing in this report.
Part of the purpose of the Executive Order was to attract investment for development of big projects that will help to unlock huge oil and gas volumes, create substantial job opportunities, and boost local capacity in the oil and gas industry.
Nigeria has ambition to raise oil production to 2 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2027 and 3 million bpd by 2030. The country also wants to grow gas output to 12 billion cubic feet (bcf) by 2030 to enable it to power its industrialisation and economic growth.
Achieving these targets depends on how active the oil and gas industry is, hence the introduction of the Executive Order to shorten the contracting cycle to six months. For local service firms, delayed contracts mean delayed cash flow, making it harder to reinvest in technology, training, and equipment. That undermines the goal of the Local Content Act and the Executive Order: to grow indigenous capacity and retain value in-country.
But the inability of the regulators to implement the policy owing to a number of factors is putting Nigeria at the risk of missing the opportunities presented by the presidential directive, a situation that demands the attention and intervention of President Bola Tinubu and his Special Adviser on Oil and Gas, Olu Verheijen.
The study by PETAN flagged some bottlenecks responsible for the delay, including prolonged internal approvals and delayed Final Investment Decisions (FIDs), as decisions stalled at operator and regulator levels, pushing projects beyond planned timelines.
The study further noted that the policy suffers slow commercial negotiations and contract finalisation, with back-and-forth on terms extending closure by months.
Also flagged was the extended regulatory and compliance processes, leading to multiple interfaces between NCDMB, NUPRC, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), creating duplication rather than efficiency.
The PETAN report also pointed out funding and financial close delays, noting that uncertainty around approval timelines makes banks and investors hesitant to commit capital.
"These delays matter because Nigeria is competing for capital in a shrinking global upstream pool. Investors require predictability and consistency in rules, approvals, and institutional leadership to make long-term commitments. "Frequent policy shifts or regulatory changes increase risk, causing investors to delay or scale back capital deployment," the PETAN study stated.
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According to PETAN, stability in policy, regulation, and leadership is essential as investors require predictability and consistency in rules, approvals, and institutional leadership to make long-term commitments.
"When policies and regulations are consistent, approved capital can be released and mobilized without hesitation. Effective application of funds depends on stability.
"Stability ensures investments are not only deployed, but also efficiently applied to projects, leading to timely execution and measurable outcomes," the report presented by Chairman of PETAN and Chief Executive Officer of Geoplex, Mr Wole Ogunsanya, added.
Analysts argue that monitoring alone is insufficient and that what is needed is an independent dashboard tracking contracting timelines across agencies, with public reporting and sanctions for unjustified breaches.
They added that full digitalisation of the process through a single portal could also cut manual bottlenecks.
