Nigeria continues to export more natural gas than it supplies to its domestic market despite having more than 200 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves and nearly two decades of policies aimed at making gas a major driver of industrial development.
Data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), obtained by Financial Vanguard, showed that Nigeria exported 3.83 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas between 2022 and 2025, compared with 2.69 Tcf sold within the country.
The trend persisted in the first eight months of 2026, when exports reached 733.8 billion cubic feet, against 516.8 billion cubic feet supplied domestically.
Cumulatively, exports stood at approximately 4.56 Tcf between 2022 and August 2026, compared with about 3.21 Tcf supplied to the local market.
The figures have raised fresh concerns about Nigeria’s ability to convert its vast gas resources into reliable energy for households, electricity generation, manufacturing and other industries.
The situation has also drawn attention to Nigeria’s continued dependence on imported liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), commonly known as cooking gas.
Infrastructure and Pricing Challenges Persist
Over the years, successive governments have introduced several initiatives, including the National Gas Policy, the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the Domestic Gas Delivery Obligation, the Decade of Gas Initiative and various gas infrastructure projects.
However, industry stakeholders say the policies have not sufficiently addressed the challenges preventing gas from reaching domestic consumers consistently and affordably.
The National President of the Oil and Gas Services Providers Association of Nigeria, Maxi Colman Obasi, said inadequate gas supply was affecting electricity generation, raising operating costs for businesses and limiting industrial growth.
According to him, manufacturers and other businesses often turn to diesel and alternative energy sources when gas supplies are insufficient, increasing production costs and contributing to higher prices for goods and services.
He added that shortages could force fertilizer, petrochemical and other gas-dependent industries to operate below capacity, limiting job creation and economic diversification.
An industry expert who spoke anonymously also identified the gap between gas production and actual domestic delivery as a major challenge. The expert argued that expanding production alone would not solve the problem without sufficient processing facilities, pipelines and transportation infrastructure.
Experts Call for a New Domestic Gas Strategy
The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, Bassey Essien, said Nigeria’s problem was not a shortage of resources but the failure to convert them into dependable domestic supplies.
Essien argued that regulatory obligations alone could not guarantee delivery where gathering, processing, transportation and payment systems remained inadequate.
He said the proposed Gas Swap Framework could help connect producers with available gas but limited evacuation capacity to operators with infrastructure but insufficient supplies.
He also called for greater investment in the OB3 pipeline, expansion of the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System, gas gathering and processing facilities, compression systems and LPG storage and distribution networks.
Essien maintained that Nigeria could continue earning foreign exchange from gas exports while increasing supplies to power plants, fertilizer producers, manufacturers and households.
Meanwhile, the Lead Consultant for Industry and Private Sector Development at the ECOWAS Commission, Professor Ken Ife, identified payment difficulties, pipeline vandalism, infrastructure gaps and inadequate investment as major obstacles to reliable domestic supply.
Ife said gas producers needed predictable revenue to service loans, purchase imported equipment and meet their financial obligations. He also highlighted the challenges created when gas prices and costs are linked to international benchmarks while payments across parts of the domestic value chain face different conditions.
He called for improved pipeline security, increased investment in gas infrastructure and measures to address outstanding payment obligations across the gas-to-power sector.
Stakeholders say Nigeria’s priority should be to develop a gas market capable of serving domestic industries and households while preserving the foreign exchange earnings generated by exports.
They argue that the success of the country’s gas policies should ultimately be measured not only by production and export figures but also by the reliable energy supplies, jobs and industrial activity generated within Nigeria.
