Nigeria Targets Global Gas Hub Status with Ambitious Production Plans
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) is working to transform Nigeria into a global gas hub, leveraging its over 215 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves. According to NNPC's Executive Vice President for Gas, Power & New Energy, Mr. Olalekan Ogunleye, the company has implemented a Gas Master Plan aimed at increasing national production of gas from the current level to above 600 trillion cubic feet.
Ogunleye stated that Nigeria is already a reliable global supplier of gas and that key LNG projects such as Trains 1-6, which produce 22 million tonnes per annum, have exported over 6,000 LNG cargoes since 1999. He added that the country's geographical advantage and substantial gas resource base place it in a strategic position to supply global markets.
Nigeria is pursuing additional export opportunities, including engaging with the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline to supply gas to Morocco and negotiating with Algeria and Equatorial Guinea. The country's Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, emphasized that domestic consumers remain the priority, but that Nigeria is working to increase gas production and develop infrastructure required to move more of its vast reserves to domestic, regional, and international markets.