Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited says artificial intelligence could help revive more than 300 oil wells previously marked for abandonment in Nigeria’s Niger Delta.
The company believes AI-powered reinterpretation of legacy seismic data may uncover bypassed reserves missed by earlier technologies.
While executives are optimistic about AI’s potential to unlock value and speed up decisions, they also warn that data security and governance will be critical as adoption accelerates across Nigeria’s energy sector.
Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited says artificial intelligence could help unlock significant value from hundreds of oil wells previously considered uneconomic, offering a new lease of life to assets written off using older exploration techniques.
Speaking at the PwC–BusinessDay Economic Outlook event, the company’s managing director and chief executive officer, Tony Attah, said AI-powered reinterpretation of seismic data could reveal untapped reserves in more than 300 wells currently slated for decommissioning.
Reinterpreting What Technology Once Missed
Attah explained that advances in artificial intelligence now make it possible to reanalyse vast volumes of legacy seismic data with far greater precision than conventional methods allowed.
“Can you imagine a scenario where I deploy AI, and I can see clearly all I need to do is go back into those wells, sidetrack, and I’m back again,” he said, describing what he called the first major value proposition of AI in oil and gas exploration.
Renaissance Africa, which acquired several mature assets previously operated by international oil companies, is sitting on terabytes of historical seismic data.
According to Attah, machine learning algorithms can now detect subtle patterns and anomalies in that data that were invisible to human interpreters or earlier computing systems.
Lessons From Earlier Technological Shifts
The Renaissance CEO compared the current AI moment to earlier breakthroughs in Nigeria’s oil industry. He recalled that initial discoveries in the Niger Delta during the 1970s and 1980s relied heavily on two-dimensional seismic interpretation.
When three-dimensional seismic technology later became widespread, fields once thought to be depleted were shown to hold additional reserves, extending their productive lives by decades.
“Fields that were predicted to have died 20 years ago are still producing,” Attah said, arguing that AI could deliver a similar transformation. “Within the limits of technology of the past, we have bypassed significant reserves.”
Speed Of Decision As Competitive Advantage
Beyond identifying new reserves, Attah stressed that AI’s biggest advantage may lie in accelerating decision-making in an industry where delays can undermine project economics.
“AI for me is around the speed of decision, the value add, narrowing time to that decision,” he said, noting that faster interpretation and modelling could significantly reduce development timelines.
This emphasis on speed resonates across Nigeria’s energy sector, where mature assets, rising costs and regulatory uncertainty have made efficiency increasingly critical.
Governance And Data Security Concerns
Despite his enthusiasm, Attah acknowledged the risks associated with AI adoption, particularly around data security and competitive intelligence. He revealed that Renaissance Africa plans to present what could be an industry-first AI governance policy to its board in March.
“One of the risks that I worry about is people running my business on ChatGPT,” he said, warning that careless use of public AI tools by employees could expose sensitive proprietary information.
“All that needs to happen is someone in Malaysia asks, ‘Can you tell me Renaissance, this and that?’ And your competitive edge is gone,” Attah added.
He said his IT team has urged caution, repeatedly advising him to slow the pace of adoption, even as he remains highly optimistic.
“They keep telling me, ‘slow down, slow down,’ but I am very, very optimistic — if anything, super excited,” he said.
CEOs Rally Around AI At 2026 Outlook
The discussion around AI extended beyond the energy sector at the BusinessDay–PwC Economic Outlook for 2026, where several Nigerian chief executives expressed strong interest in the technology’s potential to drive growth and restore investor confidence.
Femi Osinubi, consulting and risk services leader at PwC, noted that while enthusiasm is high, results have so far been mixed.
“Only about 30 percent of CEOs have seen revenue gains from adopting AI,” Osinubi said, arguing that companies need to rethink how they deploy the technology.
He added that trust would be central to successful adoption.
“Trust is the currency,” Osinubi said, explaining that companies with fewer trust concerns tend to deliver stronger shareholder returns than those struggling with governance and security issues.
AI As Organisational Reinvention
Osinubi called for a deeper reinvention of corporate leadership and structures, from engineering teams to boardrooms.
“If you reinvent yourself, refresh your organisation’s technology, then we will see the share returns continue to grow,” he said, predicting that AI-driven growth would extend beyond Nigeria into the wider West African region.
Other executives echoed similar themes. Wole Abu, managing director of Equinix, said his company is already using AI tools to automate operations, saving time and improving efficiency.
“AI is not just a technology, it is a digital transformation,” Abu said, urging business leaders to keep investing in robust infrastructure that supports enterprise adoption.
Energy, Distribution And Practical Constraints
From the consumer goods sector, Cadbury Nigeria’s acting managing director, Folake Ogundipe, said the company plans to leverage digital tools to improve customer reach and expand distribution, particularly into rural markets.
However, she warned that technology alone would not be enough.
“For the real sector to be productive, access to affordable energy must be provided,” Ogundipe said, highlighting persistent structural constraints facing Nigerian businesses.
Across the discussions, CEOs agreed that AI adoption must be backed by strong governance frameworks, cybersecurity safeguards and clear accountability to protect data integrity and ensure responsible use.
“CEOs have to invest time and resources in developing AI adoption,” said Sam Abu, PwC’s regional senior partner for West Africa.
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