Shell Nigeria Gas Limited has called on the Federal Government to accelerate the development of domestic gas pipeline infrastructure in line with Nigeria’s Decade of Gas initiative. According to the company, expanding pipeline connectivity is critical to enabling manufacturers across the country to access and benefit from Nigeria’s abundant natural gas resources.

The company said Nigeria has 215.19 trillion cubic feet of proven-plus-probable gas reserves, but manufacturers continue to spend heavily on alternative energy because of limited access to reliable pipeline gas.

It disclosed that manufacturers spent approximately N1.34tn on alternative energy in 2025, adding that expanding pipeline infrastructure would help reduce energy costs and improve industrial competitiveness.

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In a presentation titled ‘Gas for Manufacturing: Closing the Pipeline Infrastructure Gap to Improve Manufacturing Competitiveness’, delivered at the Manufacturers Energy Security & Energy Efficiency Summit held in Lagos recently, the company identified inadequate gas pipeline infrastructure as a major constraint to unlocking the full potential of Nigeria’s gas resources for manufacturing and industrial production.

The Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Gas Limited, Ralph Gbobo, represented by Asset Reliability and Integrity Manager, Samuel Ojo, said, “Despite Africa’s abundant natural gas resources, Europe has more than 10 times the gas transmission pipeline infrastructure per capita. Closing this infrastructure gap is essential to improving manufacturers’ access to reliable, affordable, and cleaner energy, reducing dependence on liquid fuels, and enabling greater use of natural gas for both electricity generation and industrial processes such as boilers, steam systems and kilns. This will enhance industrial competitiveness and support economic growth across Nigeria and Africa.”

He said on the potential cost benefits, Shell presented an illustrative comparison showing that pipeline gas has an electricity cost index of 30 per cent, “compared with 100 per cent for diesel-powered self-generation and 62 per cent for grid electricity combined with diesel backup.”

The comparison means that those using gas for power will reduce their energy costs by 70 per cent when compared with what they should spend using diesel to generate energy.

However, the company said actual savings depend on viable pipeline connections and dependable gas supplies, adding that costs vary from one industrial location to another.

Regarding ongoing infrastructure developments, Shell highlighted the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben pipeline as a critical link connecting Nigeria’s eastern and western gas networks, enabling more efficient transportation across the country

The company also identified the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Pipeline as a strategic project for extending gas access to northern Nigeria and unlocking new industrial and manufacturing demand centres. In addition, Shell highlighted the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System II which expanded the system’s design gas transmission capacity from approximately 1.1 billion to 2.3 billion standard cubic feet per day, strengthening gas supply to existing and future industrial customers.

The company added that government initiatives, including the Decade of Gas programme, the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, and other gas-sector investment incentives are helping to catalyse investment in the critical infrastructure needed to unlock Nigeria’s potential.

Meanwhile, Shell Nigeria Gas said it has continued to invest in gas distribution infrastructure to support manufacturing and industrial clusters across Ogun, Abia and Rivers states.

The company disclosed that it had built more than 150 kilometres of pipeline infrastructure and currently supplies natural gas to over 140 manufacturers. According to Shell, these investments demonstrate the role of gas infrastructure in improving energy reliability, reducing operating cost, and enhancing the competitiveness of Nigerian Manufacturers.

SNG added that its gas supply to the industries stands at 60 million standard cubic feet per day, equivalent to 300 megawatts of power, explaining that its distribution system connects trunkline supplies to factories through pressure reduction and metering facilities, distribution pipelines and factory connections.

To accelerate the expansion of gas infrastructure, the company urged the Federal Government to complete and commission trunklines, streamline permitting processes, and channel eligible financing towards commercially viable infrastructure projects.

Shell further urged the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and business owners to aggregate demand across industrial clusters, establish their consumption requirements and equipment readiness, and enter credible offtake agreements to support infrastructure investment.

According to Shell, a more extensive and reliable gas network would not only enhance manufacturing competitiveness but also strengthen critical sectors such as food processing, fertiliser production, and cold-chain logistics. The company stressed that improving energy security is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for broader economic resilience and national security.

Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF) has said that indigenous companies seeking to partner with it and access its equity must show secured gas supply and a confirmed buyer, because no gas project is bankable without both.

The Fund was established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), and designed as the “master key” for unlocking gas processing, infrastructure and bankability.

Deputy Director at MDGIF in the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engr Elvis Duruji made this known at the OTL Africa Downstream Energy Week in Lagos. He spoke at a session on: “Scaling Energy Options: Unlocking Gas and Renewables through Processing and Infrastructure.”

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Expatiating further, Duruji said the two conditions decide whether the fund takes an equity stake in a project, since they determine its returns and viability, insisting that the security of the gas feedstock is very important. He further noted that project operators must locate their sites at a gas processing plant or close to a CNG mother station.

The Fund, he added, has used N671 billion to catalyse N1.6 trillion from private Nigerians.

“The Fund has partnered on 31 projects covering 205 infrastructure assets at different stages of execution. Of these, 127 are at different levels of project management, and 10 have been commissioned.

Duruji cited Topline Limited’s mini-LNG plant in Delta State as a success story. “For three years, a Nigerian company, Topline, was looking for a credit facility from InfraCredit, and no one was able to loan them money because they are Nigerian,” he said. “They came to the fund and we partnered with them.”

He said Topline is now the first indigenous mini-LNG operator in Nigeria, with commissioning due before December.

He also cited a programme to convert 20 university campuses to CNG through daughter stations.

“Three CNG stations are operational and 14 more are to be commissioned before December. Duruji added that the fund is working with fuel-station partners, including Ibile Oil and Gas Corporation, which is delivering 15 CNG stations across Lagos.

“These are our success stories,” he said.

He said, for CNG projects, proximity to the gas processing plant “is very important. You must have security of gas supply. We also ensure that you have a gas supply agreement with producers. What is the volume and price that the producer is willing to give to our would-be equity partner? This always affects their credit returns and internal rate of return. This is what will determine the project viability, and this is key,” he said.

Duruji also noted that offtake is equally critical adding that. “We need to know the offtakers and the regasification facility. The same thing for CNG, you need to get a compressor,” he said.

According to him, the MDGIF intervenes in gas projects where commercial lenders will not, because “most Nigerian companies are in trading and operating marginally at the downstream level because the sector is highly capital intensive,” adding that no Nigerian bank would give single-digit loans for exploration and production.

“Nigerian Banks lends at as much as 30 per cent interest, whereas, foreign firms coming into Nigeria to explore, by contrast, have access to cheap loans in single digits from their home country financial institutions,” he said.

The MDGIF, he further explained, intervenes “by pricing the risk, coming up with mitigation and catalytic equity, which we now use to bring that barrier to a level to allow Nigerians who are interested to come into the midstream to partner through the equity finance that we will provide without interest.”

“We bring in the catalytic equity, which is about 49 percent, because we want to allow you to be the operator. We will stay with the private investor and walk them through all that,” he added.

He said MDGIF brings “minority equity, due diligence and risk governance” and uses these as catalytic capital “to make the projects bankable, to make them balanced capital structure that will attract private confidence.”

He identified processing plants, transport, storage and last-mile distribution as the main gaps. Non-associated gas, he said, is “very expertise and capital intensive,” and pipeline networks are needed to move gas from the reserve to the last mile.

“The more gas infrastructure we roll out, the more we are helping the energy system where renewables cannot,” he said.

Duruji identified three mandates of the MDGIF: to increase domestic gas consumption, to aggregate flared gas and bring it into the domestic market, and to mobilise private investors who lack the funds to play in the midstream.

“The MDGIF has three mandates: increase domestic gas consumption, aggregate flared gas and bring it into the domestic market, that is key,” he said. “The other mandate is to mobilise private investors that do not have the funds to be able to play in the midstream, bring their funds.”

He added: “We also have the mandate to reduce gas flare in Nigeria exploration and production sites.”

Easing access to the dedicated $40 million Women in Oil and Gas Fund is the focus of ongoing strategic conversation between the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

Biztellers reports that the two bodies are keen to collaborate to ensure that more women-owned businesses and professionals benefit from industry’s opportunities and consequently play a stronger role across the sector’s value chain.

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Recall that in April 2021, the NCDMB established a $20 million fund dedicated to supporting women-owned and women-led businesses in the oil and gas sector, which the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) complemented by matching the fund with an additional $20 million.

However, despite this significant commitment and favorable loan terms, the uptake of the scheme has remained below expectations to date.

The discussions were advanced last week when the UN Women’s Country Representative to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Ms. Beatrice Eyong, led a delegation to the NCDMB’s Abuja liaison office.

The team was received by the Board’s General Manager of Corporate Communications, Dr. Obinna Ezeobi, on behalf of the Executive Secretary, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe.

The meeting explored proposed capacity-building initiatives for NCDMB personnel, aimed at mainstreaming gender perspectives into the Board’s project planning, budgeting, and execution frameworks.

Other key areas of discussion included vendor development schemes to better position women-led oil and gas businesses for industry opportunities, strategies to raise awareness of available financing options, and potential affirmative procurement measures designed to expand the participation of women-owned companies across the oil and gas value chain.

The UN official commended NCDMB for its ongoing gender inclusion efforts, noting that the Board is already implementing several measures consistent with its mandate.

She proposed conducting a study to identify the reasons women face challenges in accessing the financing facility, including potential barriers related to documentation, business registration, tax compliance, and limited awareness.

She further highlighted key initiatives currently being undertaken by the UN Office, such as programmes on women’s economic empowerment, leadership development, and the elimination of gender-based violence, among others.

Ezeobi welcomed the proposals and affirmed the Board’s readiness to partner with UN Women. He highlighted several innovative initiatives already implemented by the Board to create opportunities for women to participate, grow, and lead in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.

These include the establishment of a dedicated funding scheme with NEXIM Bank that enables women-owned or women-led firms to access financing at a highly competitive 5 per cent interest rate, as well as the creation of a Diversity Sectoral Working Group within the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF), designed to mainstream women’s issues into local content policy and decision-making processes.

The Board also supports associations of women who work across the Energy Industry value chain, where they network, build confidence and links to progress their careers or businesses.

Ezeobi noted that NCDMB has also invested significantly in capacity-building programs for women entrepreneurs and business leaders, covering critical areas such as business sustainability, corporate governance, and strategic management.

The Board has further supported women’s participation in technical occupations while encouraging young girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

He acknowledged that women remain underrepresented in the oil and gas industry, citing limited access to technical education, finance, and commercial opportunities, as well as entrenched perceptions of the sector as predominantly male.

Ezeobi reiterated NCDMB’s willingness to collaborate with UN Women to address these challenges and recommended strategies to accelerate the Board’s support for UN Women’s programmes, thereby advancing gender inclusion across the industry.