By Obiabin Onukwugha
Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, has charged major gas-producing companies operating in Nigeria to take concrete steps towards increasing daily gas production by one billion standard cubic feet (bscf) per annum between 2025 and 2030 to meet the federal government’s National gas production target.
He also charged the companies to ensure they end gas flaring, stressing the need for accelerated growth in the sector to meet the Federal Government’s target of 12 billion scf of gas per day by 2030 from the current 7.3billion scf production capacity.
Ekpo spoke at an engagement with upstream gas industry stakeholders at the NNPC Towers Abuja on Monday.
He said: “We need to grow natural gas production by at least 1 BCF annually till 2030. Nigeria must emerge among the top 10 natural gas-consuming nations by 2030,” warning, “To achieve this, we must aggressively increase drilling operations in joint venture assets across all terrains, land, swamp, and offshore, and prioritise the completion of major gas processing and evacuation infrastructure projects.”
The Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), described the recent divestments by major oil companies as a pivotal moment for Nigeria’s energy sector, noting that it presented opportunities to aggressively exploit and produce both Associated Gas (AG) and Non-Associated Gas (NAG) in the country.
He also stressed the importance of strengthening collaboration with international stakeholders and technical experts to ensure the successful execution of gas infrastructure projects, including the AKK and OB-3 pipelines.
Ekpo description the projects as critical to connecting gas resources to domestic and industrial markets, supporting Nigeria’s ambition to become a regional hub for natural gas.
While commending the NNPC/TotalEnergies JV for ending routine gas flaring in its operations, Ekpo further called on other operators to emulate same in order to reduce their carbon footprints and convert the flared gas to wealth for the nation.
He also emphasized the need for accelerated timelines, enhanced resource allocation, and the exploration of public-private partnerships to overcome funding and technical challenges.
“Capitalizing on these divestments requires a clear strategy to accelerate project timelines, modernize existing facilities, and deploy innovative extraction and processing technologies,” he added.
Also speaking, the Commission Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, assured investors of a conducive environment to support the government’s targets for the gas sector.
He disclosed that the Commission has identified dedicated gas assets to be included in forthcoming bid rounds, even as the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Usman, represented by Esege Esege, noted that President Bola Tinubu is keenly interested in the gas sector realizing its full potential and contributing to national growth and development.
Also, Executive Vice President, Gas, Power, and New Energy NNPC Ltd., Olalekan Ogunleye, assured that NNPC Ltd. and its partners are working together across the gas value chain to meet the target.
“At present, every industry in the domestic gas space is receiving the gas they require due to the very productive cross-sectional collaboration,” he said, adding that efforts are being made to improve affordability.
Ogunleye also provided an update on the AKK and OB-3 pipeline projects, saying both have advanced to 78 per cent and 97 per cent stages of completion, respectively. “We are working towards the timely completion of these projects,” he assured.
A press statement by Louis Ibah, Spokesman to the Minister, said the meeting, which brought together key stakeholders in the industry, including MD/CEOs of NNPC Ltd, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Seplat Energy, Renaissance Energy, Total Energies, NAE/AENR, and Esso Exploration, pledged to work towards unlocking Nigeria’s natural gas potential for national development.