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Wale Tinubu’s Oando Defies All Odds with Impressive Growth

In spite of the vicissitudes and volatile nature of both the local and global oil markets, Oando Plc led by the indefatigable Wale Tinubu has continued to break new grounds, consolidating itself as an industry leader in Nigeria and steadily conquering the African market, one deal at a time, writes Emmanuel Addeh.
Oando Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading indigenous energy companies, has been on a remarkable run, achieving a string of significant milestones that are redefining the country’s energy landscape.
From its recent groundbreaking acquisition to its latest financial results to strategic partnerships and investments in sustainable energy solutions, Oando Plc has demonstrated its commitment to growth, innovation, and environmental stewardship.
Without argument, in the ever-evolving landscape of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, Oando has demonstrated its ability to adapt and thrive, making giant strides in recent times and solidifying its position as a dominant player in the sector, even while others are falling apart.
Today, Oando is at the forefront of Nigeria’s energy revolution, driving growth and sustainability in the critical sector. With a diversified portfolio of businesses spanning, among others, exploration and production as well as power generation, the company is now well-positioned to meet the evolving energy needs of Nigeria, Africa and even beyond.
Expanding Upstream Footprint in Africa
In a sector, where funding has become a major challenge, Oando Plc, recently successfully completed and won the bid for the operatorship of oil block KON 13 in Angola,a feat seen as major among industry operators.
After acquiring Eni of Italy’s oil assets in Nigeria, the company undeterred, left the shores of Nigeria, going straight to take over the oil block located in Angola’s onshore Kwanza Basin, following a competitive bidding process by the country’s oil and gas sector regulator.
The asset, being through its upstream subsidiary, Oando Energy Resources (OER), has an estimated prospective resources of 770 to 1,100 million barrels of oil.
An elated Group Chief Executive, Oando Plc, Wale Tinubu, expressed confidence in the capacity of the company, in collaboration with its co-venturers, to unlock the full potential of the asset for the country and indeed Africa.
According to Oando Plc, it also solidified the company’s position as a prominent player in the continent’s energy landscape, evolving from a local indigenous operator to a regional powerhouse.
Over 1bn Barrels Oil Reserves
At the just concluded World Economic Forum (WEF) 2025 in Davos, Switzerland, Oando highlighted that it currently has over 1 billion in oil reserves, 300,000 barrels a day of oil processing capacity, 2 billion cubic feet a day of gas capacity, with net present value of the oil in its facilities put at over $10 billion.
The company said that Nigerians have the skills and the capability to secure funding to thrive in onshore operations.
“The onshore assets in Nigeria are best in the hands of local players. The level of technology that is required to drill them is something that is commonplace. Nigerians have the skill, and the capacity, and we can also secure the funding,” Wale Tinubu stated at the event.
At the Davos, Switzerland, event attended by world leaders, top executives of the 1,000 foremost global companies, leaders of international organisations and relevant non-governmental organisations, Wale Tinubu underscored the immense prospects of indigenous energy companies taking over the divested assets by International Oil Companies (IOCs) in Nigeria.
He emphasised that by combining robust working capital, advanced technologies, and the unique skills, capacity, and local acumen of the indigenous players, who now significantly control Nigeria’s onshore assets, the industry can unlock previously untapped potential.
As one of the first indigenous companies that successfully acquired an IOCs’ onshore assets, Agip, Wale Tinubu highlighted the importance of partnership and critical financing to not only extract value from these material reserves but also accelerate the rate of extraction.
“As a company, we have over a billion barrels of reserves, 300,000 barrels a day of oil processing capacity, and over 2 billion cubic feet a day of gas capacity. Effectively, the net present value of the oil we have in our facilities is well over $10 billion,” remarked Wale Tinubu.
The Oando chief also unveiled plans on how the company was set to adopt artificial intelligence, among other technologies, in its next drilling campaign to explore its over 1 billion barrels of oil reserves to strengthen decision-making and optimise costs in oil exploration.
Deployment of 5,000 Electric Buses
Oando Plc’s plan to partner the Lagos state government to deploy 5,000 electric commercial vehicles to the state are also now in top gear.
According to the company, the decision of the firm to invest in electric vehicles, particularly public transportation, was triggered by its commitment to adopt cleaner energy solutions as part of its energy transition drive.
Oando further defended its position on ‘just transition’ as against decarbonisation in Africa as the continent remains a victim of global warming, bearing the brunt of climate change despite contributing only about 3 per cent of global emissions.
Wale Tinubu argued that Africa cannot decarbonise or abandon its large deposits of fossil fuels for clean energy sources while the majority of its citizens wallow in energy poverty.
“The arguments for decarbonisation are as important as the arguments for a just transition, and that transition has to recognise the fact that Africa has 45 per cent of the people who have no access to electricity or energy products.
“So our first step really must be to use what we need, which means that we need to use our gas as part of the energy mix to service the needs of our continent and that we need to do so as a transitional fuel whilst we work with an energy mix,” he maintained.
He noted that the company, being a major player in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, is deploying EVs as a “carbon capture technique” to contribute to the global decarbonisation campaign.
Speaking passionately on the need for Africa to take full advantage of its God-given resources, he added: “For every modicum of carbon we put into the economy, into the world, and the environment, we are also taking that out by ensuring that we have carbon capture techniques as well as ensuring that our clean energy offering as part of our products and services is high, so we’re focusing a lot on e-vehicles,” he stated.
Beyond just talking, Oando is also walking the talk, funding projects that align with its plan to reduce emissions rather than halting oil and gas production altogether.
“We are using gas as a transitional fuel to create electricity to generate the power to power buses. Transport is 10 per cent of global emissions, so if we tackle public transport, we would be able to reduce emissions by 5 per cent almost immediately.
“ The first step we’re taking now is also working on a public system of being able to transit the bus system in Nigeria from diesel or petrol to electric vehicles, starting with a project that we’re working on with the Lagos state government as a pilot case where we expect to see up to 5,000 buses, e-buses, being deployed in our streets,” Wale Tinubu disclosed.
Oando Stocks on Fire
With growing investors’ confidence in the company, Oando Plc’s stocks have been on the upward swing, shooting up by over 14 per cent in the third week of January and increasing from an opening price of N62.50 to close at N71.80.
Recall that the company reported a post-tax profit of N13.6 billion for the third quarter of 2024, a 510.48 per cent increase from the previous year, bringing the total for the nine months ending September 30 to N76.2 billion.
For the third quarter, revenue reached N1.1 trillion, a 15.7 per cent increase from the previous year, while total revenue for the nine-month period was N3.1 trillion.
Record N4.1tn Revenue
In a year that was characterised by several challenges, Wale Tinubu led Oando Plc to a record 45 per cent increase in revenue to N4.1 trillion for the year ended December 31, 2024, compared to N2.9 trillion recorded in the previous year.
The company’s unaudited financial statements, released at the weekend on the Nigeria Exchange Limited, showed a nine per cent growth in profit after tax, rising to N65.5 billion from N60.3 billion in 2023.
Oando disclosed that the revenue growth was driven by higher crude oil volumes, increased gas prices, and the impact of foreign exchange gains, despite lower trading volumes and a decline in realised crude oil prices.
Speaking on the development, Wale Tinubu attributed the performance to the company’s strategic expansion, especially its acquisition of a 20 per cent additional stake in Agip, boosting production capacity.
He said: “Our successful integration of NAOC Ltd (Agip) enabled us to achieve peak operated production of 103,206 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) and net entitlements of 45,000 boepd.”
Besides, the company recorded a 46 per cent increase in exit production, rising to 30,712 boepd in 2024 from 21,036 boepd in 2023, while average production grew by 3 per cent to 23,911 boepd from 23,258 boepd in the previous year.
Furthermore, Oando’s production data showed that crude oil output increased by 27 per cent to 7,864 barrels per day from 6,211 bpd in 2023, while natural gas production declined by six per cent to 15,801 boepd from 16,808 boepd.
Wale Tinubu stated that henceforth, the company would focus on cost optimisation, operational efficiency, and an aggressive drilling programme across three rig lines to boost production in 2025.
“We are also implementing a revamped security framework with advanced surveillance technology and intelligence-driven initiatives to curb oil theft and ensure the integrity of our operations,” the Oando Plc chief executive stated.
In 2025, it is clear that Oando Plc is poised for even greater success. Beyond making profits, as Nigeria seeks to grow its economy and address its energy challenges, companies like Oando Plc will play a critical role in driving progress.
With its impressive track record, commitment to innovation, and focus on sustainability, Oando Plc is undoubtedly one of the companies to watch in Nigeria’s energy sector in 2025 as the company continues to make giant strides.