The Federal Government has unveiled ambitious plans to raise Nigeria’s domestic gas supply from 3.85 billion standard cubic feet per day to five Bcf/d, leveraging natural gas to drive the country’s aspiration of building a $1 trillion economy and transitioning to cleaner, more affordable fuels through auto Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

This was disclosed during a webinar hosted by the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), themed “Natural Gas Pricing and Investment Opportunities in Nigeria’s Auto CNG Sector.”
  
Speaking on behalf of the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, the Executive Director, Gas and Renewable Energy Infrastructure, Adedayo Oyinlola, underscored the centrality of gas to the country’s economic transformation agenda, particularly within the midstream and downstream sectors.
  
He said: “The current supply of 3.85 billion cubic feet per day, we intend to, through our regulatory activities, ensure the growth of the gas utilisation supply to up to 5 billion cubic feet per day.”
  
The NMDPRA boss acknowledged that while the transition to gas, particularly in the automotive sector, has gained momentum through pilot rollouts and policy frameworks, structural and regulatory reforms are still needed to stimulate large-scale investment.
  
He noted that the Authority is currently streamlining licensing and regulatory processes to facilitate faster delivery of gas infrastructure projects and eliminate delays across the value chain. 
  
Ahmed stated that the Authority is working in collaboration with other key stakeholders, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC), Presidential Initiative on CNG (PiCNG), and Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN), to align supply and pricing frameworks that stimulate investor confidence.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, represented by Programme Director of the Presidential Initiative on CNG (PiCNG), Michael Oluwagbemi, emphasised that auto CNG plays a key role in the country’s energy transition agenda.