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Nigerian energy entrepreneur Kola Karim is taking his Shoreline Group across the Atlantic, saying the company has completed the purchase of producing oil assets in the United States as it looks to export homegrown operating know how into a tougher, more transparent market.
Karim, chief executive of Shoreline, said the acquisitions span several U.S. states and give the privately held group immediate barrels rather than a long wait for exploration upside. He spoke on the sidelines of the Nigeria International Energy Summit in Abuja, where executives have been pitching new investment stories even as theft and underinvestment continue to weigh on output.
The move is a rare step for an indigenous Nigerian producer that built its name in the Niger Delta. Industry veterans say the U.S. patch offers predictable rules, deep service capacity and ready buyers for crude, a contrast to Nigeria’s stop start projects and security costs. Karim framed the deal as a two way transfer: operational discipline learned in Nigeria paired with the data heavy culture of U.S. fields.
Shoreline did not disclose the purchase price or the names of the assets, but Karim said the properties are already producing and were selected for opportunities to lift output through routine workovers, modern monitoring and tighter cost control. He said the group expects the U.S. entry to broaden its revenue base and provide a hedge as Nigeria’s upstream sector navigates changing fiscal terms and a push by majors to sell onshore positions.
The company’s rise has tracked Nigeria’s shift toward local ownership. Shoreline became widely known after moving into Oil Mining Lease 30 in the early 2010s, one of the headline transactions that helped seed a new generation of domestic operators. Those deals came with big promises and big headaches, from aging pipelines to fragile community relations, and investors have watched closely to see which firms can deliver stable production.
Back home, Shoreline is seeking to raise production by more than 40 percent this year, Karim said, pointing to a pipeline of well interventions and facility upgrades. He said better metering, faster procurement and disciplined maintenance can add barrels without the delay and risk of frontier drilling.
Karim also described a wider African expansion plan that reaches beyond Nigeria into Namibia, Angola, Mozambique and Côte d’Ivoire, part of an effort to build a portfolio that spans oil, gas and power. Analysts say the timing is notable: while international capital has grown more cautious about fossil fuels, demand remains strong and many African producers are under pressure to monetize resources quickly and fund domestic energy access.
Nigeria, Africa’s largest crude producer, has struggled to meet its OPEC quota in recent years, with output hit by theft, outages and slow project cycles. Karim said Shoreline’s pitch is simple: run assets harder, shorten timelines and invest steadily. He argued that a stronger domestic industry can coexist with global expansion, provided operators keep costs down and focus on reliable barrels. He said the U.S. fields will also train staff and sharpen reporting standards.
