By Joycelyn Ellakeche Adah
Nigeria is targeting an increase in gas production to between 12 and 15 billion cubic feet per day (BCF), with plans to more than triple domestic consumption as the Federal Government seeks to make gas a major driver of industrial growth and economic stability.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Rabiu Abdullahi Umar, disclosed this in an exclusive with PerSecond News interview at the ongoing ADIPEC 2026 in Abu Dhabi.
He said the country intends to shift a greater share of its gas resources towards domestic utilisation.
According to him, Nigeria currently produces between seven and eight BCF of gas daily, but only about two BCF is consumed locally, with most of the output exported.
He said the government’s ambition was to increase production while ensuring that a significantly larger volume is available to power industries, support manufacturing and reduce the cost of doing business.
“Today, we produce between seven and eight BCF a day, and only about two BCF is utilised domestically. Most of it goes out. We want to increase that to between 12 and 15 BCF, and the idea is that what will be consumed domestically will more than triple. Most of the growth we expect to see is going to be domesticated,”
According to him, increased domestic gas consumption could lower production and transportation costs, strengthen economic stability and improve household disposable income.
“The more gas we utilise domestically, the lower the cost of production will be, the lower the cost of transportation will be and the more stable the economy will be. It will also have an attendant impact on the disposable income of households,” he said.
He said the administration’s gas expansion programme went beyond the deployment of compressed natural gas (CNG) for vehicles, stressing that industrial and commercial users would be central to the country’s long-term gas strategy.
Umar said President Bola Tinubu had made it clear that CNG investment and penetration in the mobility sector should double, but added that the broader objective was to expand gas use across the economy.
He said Nigeria had the hydrocarbons and market potential to emerge as a regional hub for oil and gas investment, but would need to develop the infrastructure required to bring its resources to consumers.
“ Nigeria is open for business. Nigeria is a credible market. Nigeria is the largest black nation on earth and has the potential to become the regional hub for oil and gas investments. The market is there, and we have the hydrocarbons. We just need to make sure that we bring them out and build the required infrastructure.”
The NMDPRA chief said attracting investment into gas infrastructure and increasing domestic utilisation would be critical to translating Nigeria’s resource potential into broader economic benefits.
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