The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) have intensified efforts to boost domestic gas supply as rising demand pushes NLNG to commit 100 per cent of its LPG production to the local market.
The Commission Chief Executive of NUPRC, Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said the regulator is intensifying reforms to support the Federal Government’s gas agenda, with a strong focus on increasing domestic utilisation.
According to a statement signed by the Head, Media and Corporate Communications, Eniola Akinkuotu, on Saturday, Eyesan made this known while receiving the Managing Director of Nigeria LNG Limited, Mr. Adeleye Falade, during a courtesy visit to the commission.
She described the visit as timely, noting that since December, the commission had accelerated regulatory reforms to align with provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act.
Eyesan said the agency was deliberately repositioning itself to remove bottlenecks and improve ease of doing business in the upstream sector.
“We are deliberately repositioning the Commission as a business enabler. Through our monthly stakeholder engagements, we X-ray industry performance and resolve issues proactively to ensure they do not escalate”, she said.
She linked recent improvements in investor confidence to the government’s responsiveness to industry concerns, noting that this had begun to translate into increased final investment decisions.
Speaking on Nigeria’s gas ambitions, the NUPRC boss stressed that the Federal Government’s Decade of Gas initiative was already yielding practical outcomes, particularly in driving domestic supply.
“The Decade of Gas is not aspirational; it is a practical framework for expanding domestic utilisation while strengthening export capacity”, she stated.
Eyesan, however, charged operators to match government efforts with a stronger commitment to performance and compliance.
“As government continues to be responsive, operators must demonstrate reciprocity through performance, compliance, and investment discipline”, she added.
In his remarks, the NLNG Managing Director underscored the growing importance of collaboration across the upstream value chain to sustain gas availability, especially for the domestic market.
Falade disclosed that rising local demand for cooking gas had significantly reshaped NLNG’s supply strategy, forcing the company to prioritise Nigeria over export markets.
“Today, 100 per cent of our LPG production is dedicated to the domestic market, not due to reduced output, but because demand has expanded significantly”, he said.
He described the move as a deliberate intervention to deepen gas penetration and stabilise supply within the country.
Looking ahead, Falade expressed optimism about increased output, revealing that the ongoing Train 7 project would significantly boost production capacity.
“Train 7, expected to come on stream next year, will increase our production capacity by about 35 per cent, positioning us to scale both domestic supply and export volumes”, he said.
The development comes amid sustained efforts by the Federal Government to deepen gas adoption as a cleaner and more affordable energy source, with policymakers increasingly looking to domestic demand as a key driver of growth in the sector.
Power crisis: Stakeholders push renewable energy
Fresh insights into global developments in the renewable energy sector formed the focal point of the recent stakeholder engagement in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The insights were shared at a training, organised and facilitated by Nexgen Energy Hub, Ibadan, in collaboration with its China partners, Techfine, aimed to improve service delivery to consumers of renewable energy. The engagement drew stakeholders from different parts of the country.
Addressing newsmen at the event, Nexgen Energy Head, Technical Department, Mr. Noah Ojo, said renewable energy is the way out of the power supply crisis facing the country, adding that the gathering sought to identify current challenges confronting partners in the sector and brainstorm ways to tackle them.
“Considering the current situation of power in Nigeria, I think the stakeholders in the power sector, especially renewable energy, are solution providers in this critical time that our nation is in.
“I am talking about a situation where everybody is, one way or another, migrating to get an alternative power source”, Ojo said.
He added that the initiative for the training was geared towards understanding the plight of stakeholders driving the renewable energy sector and addressing such concerns.
“They’re the people tasked with handling this situation in the country. Everybody wants to switch to renewable energy, so there’s a lot of pressure on them.
“And as a renewable energy company, we are looking at how we can provide them with what they need to meet the needs of customers.
“They are our partners, and we see the necessity to step in and offer support at a point when the energy crisis has reached its peak. So, this training is all about getting to know what their challenges are and how we can address them”, Ojo said.
Also speaking at the occasion, Mr. Taiwo Igbasan of Techspace Energy said the training provided a better understanding of the available products in the market, as well as flexibility in deciding on the suitability of a particular product for an application at the installation site.
“So, I think it’s really important that installers get to attend this kind of meeting so they have better knowledge of what is available for their customers”, he said.
Igbasan attested to a boom in the renewable energy sector, saying that “for the Presidency to go completely off grid is a big win for the renewable sector in Nigeria”.
He, however, advocated government regulation of prices and quality at the point of importation, and even after importation, to ensure that products coming into Nigeria meet approved standards.
Another stakeholder at the training, Mr. Odekanmi Oluwadamilare of Dretech Energy, appreciated the organisers, noting that it would tremendously assist renewable energy dealers in understanding new products and market trends.
“The facilitators have exhaustively elaborated on the areas I had wanted to raise questions about, such as the latest technology on each of the inverters and the latest products that have been designed. So, they have taken us through all the products, and we now have a deeper understanding of which type of inverter can work with a specific battery”, Oluwadamilare said.
He identified the worrying issue of inexperienced engineers in the sector as a major concern to end users, stressing that panels had, on occasions, wreaked havoc on property.
“As much as there is a high demand for solar energy, there is also a vast number of inexperienced and incompetent engineers out there”, Oluwadamilare said, calling for a financial body to take up a middleman role that would make solar adoption easy and affordable for end users.
Explaining the inspiration for the training, Nexgen Energy Capacity Building Team Lead, Kemi Aiyekitan, said the backbone of every organisation is feedback, adding that the company had received feedback on product quality, availability, and durability.
Nexgen Energy Hub debuted in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on March 17, 2022.