RismadarVoice Reporters
September 25, 2026
The Federal Government of Nigeria is targeting September 2028 to end regulated pricing in Nigeria’s domestic gas market and transition to a fully established willing-buyer, willing-seller system.
The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Rabiu Umar, disclosed this at the Gas Market Maturity Workshop held in Abuja under the Decade of Gas initiative.
Umar said the regulator was targeting a 24-month transition period during which conditions necessary for a commercially driven gas market would be established.
“The journey we are starting should lead us to a place where we should target a 24-month at best period within which we will be able to declare the market to be truly a willing-buyer, willing-seller market,” he said.
According to him, the transition is provided for under the Petroleum Industry Act and will be determined by measurable indicators rather than merely setting a deadline.
He identified adequate and diverse gas supply, sufficient numbers of credible buyers and sellers, access to transportation infrastructure, reliable contractual arrangements, payment performance, delivery obligations, market information and credible price signals as key requirements.
Umar said the objective was to create a gas market in which prices would increasingly be determined through commercial agreements between buyers and sellers rather than regulatory controls.
He, however, acknowledged that Nigeria’s domestic gas supply remained tight despite the country’s substantial reserves.
The NMDPRA chief said infrastructure expansion must therefore be accompanied by increased gas production to ensure that new pipelines and other facilities have sufficient supply.
He cited the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline as one of the major infrastructure projects requiring adequate gas volumes to operate commercially.
Umar said the regulator’s role would gradually shift as the market matured, with greater emphasis on establishing market rules, ensuring fair access to infrastructure, protecting competition and monitoring market conduct.
He disclosed that the NMDPRA had begun consultations on draft regulations addressing anti-competitive practices as part of efforts to implement the competition provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act.
The authority is also assessing individual segments of the gas market to determine which are sufficiently developed to transition first and what safeguards would be required before liberalisation.
Umar further disclosed that the process for issuing gas distribution licences was nearing completion, with qualified companies expected to receive licences in the fourth quarter of 2026.
He said efforts were also underway to deepen domestic utilisation of liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas and compressed natural gas.
According to him, increased domestic gas utilisation could support electricity generation, reduce dependence on imports and strengthen industrial development.
Umar stressed that creating a predictable and transparent regulatory environment would be crucial to attracting long-term investment because gas projects typically require substantial capital and long-term commercial agreements.
“For you to take an FID in a gas investment, you need to have a long-term contract,” he said.
The Coordinating Director of the Decade of Gas Secretariat, Ed Ubong, said Nigeria could achieve a fully functioning willing-buyer, willing-seller market before the programme’s 2030 horizon.
Ubong said the programme was targeting gas supply of 12.6 billion cubic feet per day by 2030.
He added that 16 major infrastructure projects had been identified to support market development, alongside more than 60 projects capable of generating approximately 15 billion cubic feet per day of gas demand.
President of the Nigerian Gas Association, Yetunde Taiwo, also called for clearly defined milestones to guide the transition.
Taiwo said the association supported the development of a commercially driven gas market but stressed that liberalisation should be properly sequenced to prevent the country from moving either prematurely or too slowly.
She called for stronger collaboration among government, regulators and industry players, with government providing policy direction, regulators ensuring predictable rules and private operators investing in projects necessary to expand the market.
The stakeholders said the ultimate objective was to establish a competitive gas market capable of attracting investment and delivering reliable supplies to industries, businesses and consumers.
