The Federal Government has announced a significant increase in Nigeria’s gas production, which is set to rise from 7.5 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day to nearly 12 bcf per day.
This was disclosed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo during a recent event in Lagos, according to The Punch.
Ekpo outlined his primary objective for his second year in office, which is to further boost gas production and transition Nigeria into a gas-focused economy, aligning with the Decade of Gas initiative.
“In the Decade of Gas, we are looking at turning Nigeria into a gas economy by 2030, in which case, we are looking at growing from 7.5 billion cubic feet to about 12 bcf. So, we are progressing in that direction to make sure we have gas sufficiency in the country,” he stated.
Since the Federal Government adopted gas as the country’s transition fuel, there have been concerns about how sustainable gas production in Nigeria.
However, the gas minister expressed optimism about increased gas production, noting that divestments by some international oil companies to deep water areas could further enhance output.
“The sustainability plan is all about producing more gas from the gas resources,” Ekpo assured Nigerians.
“You know that some of the IOCs are moving now from the shallow water to the deep water where you have a huge gas deposit. So, with the commitment of President Bola Tinubu, there is that assurance that we will have sufficient gas to sustain what we are looking at,” he added.
According to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Nigeria’s reserves of associated and non-associated gas total 209.26 trillion cubic feet.
