Abuja Petroleum Roundtable (APR) is a private sector-led oil industry think tank built on the triple helix interactive platform comprising knowledgeable industry professionals, public sector and government technocrats, universities and academics, bankers, energy law practitioners, and investment analysts. They are united by the desire to create optimum value from petroleum reserves for the government and citizens of Nigeria and the other Gulf of Guinea countries.

Senate President Ken Nnamani inaugurates APR 2007 at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja. Looking on from the high table are (right to left) Paul Caldwell, former Chairman/CEO ExxonMobil Nigeria; Dr Andrew Uzoigwe, Chairman, Millennium Oil and Gas Company; Engr Funsho Kupolokun, GMD NNPC; Dr Kalu Idika Kalu, former Finance Minister; Dr Emmanuel Egbogah, Chairman APR Advisory Board; Alhaji Jafaru Kpaki, Special Assistant to the President on Petroleum and Mallam Hassan Tukur, Director at Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The first meeting of the Abuja Petroleum Roundtable was held in March 2007, at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, with the theme: Oil and the Future of Nigeria. Several other meetings were held during the succeeding 12 years until it went on a break, especially after the passing of Dr Emmanuel Egbogah, former Chairman of the APR Advisory Board. He was the public face of the group.

In relaunching the APR brand, a meeting was planned for 2022. But challenges related to the economy and by extension sponsorship, dogged the planning, leading to cancellation.

We are now looking to resume the meetings by hosting the next event in March 2025 at the Abuja Continental Hotel.

Before the next APR meeting, there will be extensive consultations with previous sponsors, attendees and participants, to build up sufficient awareness and enthusiasm for a robust interactive session. We are launching a social media community to grow the conversations, still centred on the original theme: Oil and the Future of Nigeria, which is as relevant today in the face of the energy transition, as it was in 2007 when the first meeting was held.

A forerunner event – Gulf of Guinea Energy Dialogues will be held this October. It is a quarterly colloquium to onboard actionable research and new ideas from academia for managing the impact of energy transition in the Gulf of Guinea economies.

APR 2025 will pick up from the conclusions of the GOG Energy Dialogues on developing the Niger Delta in the face of receding hydrocarbon production in the region, shifting the emphasis of the conversations from research to political interventions at the subnational level, especially for oil-producing states in Nigeria, most of which are in the Niger Delta.

Apart from Keynote Presentations, APR 2025 will feature Governors' Panel Sessions, intended to interrogate the agenda for development for each governor of the oil-producing states.

A book, Oil and the Future of Nigeria (ISBN 978-978-993-677-9), encapsulating 100 APR presentations and summaries of proceedings from previous meetings will be released before the next meeting. The book is being published in honour and memory of Dr. Emmanuel Egbogah, and a few moments will be devoted to honouring him with a plaque and citation at the book launch.

At Abuja Petroleum Roundtable 2014: Ikechi Ibeji with Dr Jude Amaefule, Emerald Energy Resources Limited CEO. Also on the front row: Engr Godwin Omene, pioneer Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission and former Deputy Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria; and Dr Emmanuel Egbogah, former Special Adviser on Petroleum to Presidents Yar ardua and Jonathan. The late Dr Egbogah was also the pioneer Chairman of APR Advisory Board.