Nigeria’s push to explore the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for vehicles in line with the Decade of Gas agenda has attracted about $400 million investment so far, with 86 and 65 new daughters & mother stations under construction respectively.

The Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, who disclosed this during a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja, said the nation’s refueling capacity has also risen from 20 to 56.

Ahmed, who assured that the NMDPRA would vigorously pursue the Decade of Gas agenda this year, said it is already making significant progress inunlocking the natural gas resources for industrialising the country. 

He said the collaborative efforts of Presidential CNG Initiative (PCNGI), NMDPRA and Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) led to the development of standards and the Nigeria Gas Vehicle Monitoring System to ensure safety which is already in pilot phase and expected to be launched in 2025.

Ahmed added that the NMDPRA has supported the PCNGI which has over the last year, helped stimulate 186 new conversion centres, increasing Nigeria’s conversion capacity by over 2500 per cent. 

“These conversions alongside new buys have raised Nigeria Nigerian Gas Vehicles (NGV) population to an estimated 30-50,000 vehicles and trucks and it continues to grow daily,” he stated.

He assured that the agency will continue to collaborate with PCNGI to ensure deployment of CNG infrastructure in major cities of Lagos and Abuja, up to 100,000 conversions while collaborating with states to develop NGVs in other areas. 

On petroleum refining, the NMDPRA boss was proud that the nation is “steadily reemerging as a major supply hub. 

“The biggest single train refinery in the world, the Dangote Refinery, the four NNPC refineries are gradually being re-streamed to ramp up production, our modular refineries are upscaling both in capacities, utilisation and numbers. With these, Nigeria is already a net exporter of some petroleum products with the target of all petroleum commodities,” he stated.

Ahmed said the agency has taken necessary steps to ensure the evolution of an open, competitive and contestable market in the product supply chain. 

“The full price deregulation of petroleum products market has enabled the creation of a level playing field which fosters healthy competition and enables investment opportunities,” he added.

Ahmed said: “As we progress into the year 2025, the NMDPRA would continue consolidating its successes for enhanced regulatory oversight. This would include the upgrade of our laboratories for enhanced product quality analysis and referencing, inter-agency collaborations, automation, and promoting sustainability in the sector.”