Nigeria’s proven natural gas reserve has jumped to 209.5 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) as at last January. Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) broke this news in Abuja.
But, before now, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said Nigeria’s proven gas reserve was 206.53 trillion of standard cubic feet (tcf). The agency’s Director, Sarki Auwalu, said so in Abuja at the 2021 Nigeria International Petroleum Summit.
This figure represented an increase of 3.37tcf, a 1.66 per cent increase over the 203.16tcf recorded over the corresponding date of January 1, 2020.
He said that the growth of gas reserves was a critical lever to achieving the Federal Government’s ‘Decade of Gas Initiative”, aimed at transforming Nigeria to a gas-powered economy by 2030, pointing out that Nigeria attained the target of 200tcf of natural gas reserves by the Reserve Declaration as at January 1, 2019, before the 2020 target.
‘Thereafter, the government set a target to attain a Reserve Position of 2020tcf by 2030. As a department, we have continued to drive industry performance to grow reserves via dedicated gas exploration, deep drilling, optimal appraisal, field studies and improved oil recovery.
‘It is, therefore, my pleasure to formally declare the National Gas Reserves Position as at Jan. 1, 2021 at this important forum. Nigeria’s Natural Gas Reserves as at Jan. 1, 2021, stands at 206.53tcf. Associated Gas is 100.73tcf and Non-Associated Gas is 105.80tcf, making a total of 206.53tcf.”
He said the recent award of 57 marginal oilfields to indigenous companies was one of the strategies to increase their participation in the country’s oil and gas industry, adding that Nigeria’s human and natural resources, coupled with being Africa’s largest economy, places the country at a vantage position for investment and participation.
Auwalu said: ‘Nigeria is positioned to optimally develop its oil and gas resources for the benefit of its 200 million shareholders. Indigenous operators have a significant role to play, pointing out, ‘government’s aspirations and policy thrust of the ‘Decade of Gas” underpin the drive for investments across the value chain.
‘Government will support indigenous and marginal field operators to grow, share and enhance participation in the sector for wealth and value creation.”
However, NMDPRA’s Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, said at the 2022 Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES) in Abuja. The new figure represents a major increase of 2.97 TCF in proven natural gas reserves representing a 1.42 per cent increase from the 206.53 TCF recorded on Jan. 1, 2021.
Ahmed, represented by Ogbugo Ukoha, the Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, NMDPRA, said the Nigerian economy had been projected to experience a growth of 2.1 to 2.5 per cent through 2022.
He said the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would expand between 2.9 to 3.5 per cent as projected by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, adding that this progress would be driven by energy.
Ahmed said: “Thankfully, Nigeria is endowed with enormous petroleum resources currently put at 37 billion Barrels of Crude oil reserves and 209.5 TCF of Natural Gas reserves as of January 2022.
“These resource size puts Nigeria at an enviable position within the comity of global hydrocarbon producers.
“Even in this era of global energy transition the oil and gas sector still remains pivotal to the Nigerian economy since it provides the needed cash flow for the functioning of other sectors of the economy but for how long?”
According to him, with the global push for energy transition, Nigeria is racing against time to derive maximum value from its hydrocarbon resource and secure its energy future.
He said there was a need to vigorously contemplate Nigeria’s energy strategies, which was a key tool for economic liberation and national development taking into advisement the shift in demand and clamour for cleaner fuels.
Ahmed said: “It is imperative that going forward all stakeholders must deliberately adopt strategies that embolden and underpin these three core principles.
“Adoption of low carbon technologies across all operations in the oil and gas value chain, deepening and penetration of natural gas utilisation domestically to increase energy sufficiency and reduce energy poverty and invest conscientiously in cleaner fuels and renewables.”
He said the authority was committed to creating an enabling environment for investments in the midstream and downstream space by encouraging industry participants through its regulatory service instruments.
