The Federal Government has raised the alarm over alleged diversion of Nigeria’s Frontier Exploration Fund, vowing to hold individuals and institutions responsible for the mismanagement of the resources.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, made the declaration on Monday in Lagos during the 43rd Annual International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE).

He said the fund, created under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), had strayed from its core purpose of financing oil exploration in underexplored frontier basins.

Lokpobiri lamented that the money, managed by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), had been poorly utilised since the PIA came into effect.

He accused unnamed individuals of borrowing from the fund for unrelated activities.

“We have, under the PIA, the Frontier Exploration Fund domiciled with the NUPRC. That fund itself has to be used now for the purpose of its inclusion in the PIA,” he said. “At the moment, some people are borrowing the money for different purposes. And that is the danger. If you have money lying fallow there, somebody will borrow it in the name of trying to bring it back, and they will never come back. So, who do we hold accountable?”

The minister warned that anyone found exploiting the fund would face sanctions, insisting that the resources must be channelled strictly toward exploration projects that could boost Nigeria’s oil reserves.

He described the misuse of the fund as a major setback to Nigeria’s pursuit of energy security and economic stability, adding that without new exploration efforts, the country’s oil reserves could stagnate.

“Those who are exploiting these Frontier Exploration Funds will have to be held accountable — to use these resources to finance members of NAPE to do the exploration that the money is meant for,” he said.

Lokpobiri noted that most of Nigeria’s oil discoveries were made decades ago and that the country must urgently increase investments in exploration to sustain output and revenue.

“Most of the explorations in Nigeria were done in the 1990s. Whatever figures we are discussing today — the 37 billion barrels of crude oil and 200 million cubic feet of gas — are old figures. The potential is that if we do more exploration, our figures are likely to quadruple,” he said.

The minister further warned that oil companies holding idle licences without tangible exploration activities would no longer enjoy automatic renewals.

“I see those who have capital knocking on my door, looking for available fields to make investments, and those who have marginal fields are just holding them as souvenirs,” he said. “For those people who haven’t shown capacity, why renew their licences? Even if I renew them for another 10 years, they won’t do anything. So I decided that I will not renew idle licences. They will be reassigned to those who can invest in them for the benefit of Nigeria.”

He called on NAPE members to apply modern technology and data-driven innovation in exploration, saying digital tools and advanced analytics would help achieve faster and more efficient results.

“Old ways of doing things may not give you the kind of results that we need. NAPE has to invest in technology, digitalisation, and advanced analytics so that we can get the results we need. As a government, we will partner with you and give you all the support you need,” he said.

Lokpobiri also noted that the global discourse on energy transition had shifted from abandoning fossil fuels to promoting a balanced energy mix.

“Those who once told us to abandon oil and gas have changed course. The new language is energy mix. The world still needs energy, and for Africa, that means we must explore our resources responsibly to provide energy for development,” he said.

He assured that President Bola Tinubu’s administration would continue to support exploration initiatives aimed at achieving energy sufficiency and strengthening Nigeria’s role in Africa’s energy market.

“The actions we need to take today are critical. If we don’t take them now, it might be too late. We are committed to partnering with NAPE and all relevant stakeholders to ensure Nigeria plays its rightful role in meeting global energy demands,” he stated.

Earlier, NAPE President Johnbosco Uche said the conference theme, “Revitalising the Nigerian Petroleum Exploration and Production Strategies for Energy Security and Sustainable Development,” reflected the urgency of repositioning Nigeria’s oil and gas industry for growth.

Uche said Nigeria must deepen exploration to replace reserves, unlock unappraised discoveries, and build resilience against global energy uncertainty.

“We need to discover new oil and gas today to sustain the production of tomorrow,” he said. “To revitalise exploration, we must return to data-driven innovation

integrated basin analysis, and investment-enabling policies.”

He emphasised that the sector’s sustainability also depended on developing young geoscientists and energy professionals.

“Through our University Assistance Programme, mentorship initiatives, and student chapters, NAPE continues to build bridges between industry and academia,” he said.

“Our human capital must be continuously renewed, as we cannot build a sustainable industry on an ageing workforce alone.”