Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas) Ekperikpe Ekpo, has called on major gas-producing companies to boost production by one billion standard cubic feet (bscf) per day each year to help the country reach its ambitious gas production target of 12 billion scf per day by 2030.
Speaking at a meeting with upstream gas stakeholders at the NNPC Towers in Abuja on Monday, Ekpo emphasized the need to accelerate growth in the gas sector from the current capacity of 7.3 billion scf per day. 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.”
To meet this goal, Ekpo urged increased drilling activities across all terrains land, swamp, and offshore especially within joint venture assets. He also called for prioritizing the completion of major gas processing and pipeline infrastructure projects.
Leveraging Divestments to Boost Gas Production
The minister highlighted recent divestments by major oil companies as a pivotal moment for the sector, presenting opportunities to expand the exploitation of both associated gas (AG) and non-associated gas (NAG) reserves. He stressed the importance of:
- Accelerating project timelines
- Modernizing facilities
- Adopting innovative extraction and processing technologies
Ekpo further emphasized collaboration with international partners and technical experts to successfully deliver key gas infrastructure, including the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) and Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB-3) pipelines. These projects are critical to linking gas supplies to domestic and industrial markets and positioning Nigeria as a regional natural gas hub.
Gas Flaring Elimination and Progress Updates
The minister praised the NNPC/TotalEnergies joint venture for successfully eliminating routine gas flaring in their operations and encouraged other operators to adopt similar practices.
Also addressing the meeting, Olalekan Ogunleye, Executive Vice-President of Gas, Power, and New Energy at NNPC Ltd, assured stakeholders that the national oil company and partners are working cohesively to meet production targets. He reported that:
- The AKK pipeline is 78% complete
- The OB-3 pipeline is 97% complete
Ogunleye reaffirmed NNPC’s commitment to the timely completion of these infrastructure projects.
