Business
NNPC Assures On Dev Of Gas Resources
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has insisted that it will continue to develop Nigeria’s gas resources.
This it said it will do in spite of the exit of International Oil Companies (IOCs) from the country due to the global push for energy transition and net carbon zero target.
NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at the Nigeria International Energy Summit 2022, with the theme, “Revitalising the Industry: Future Fuels and Energy transition”.
Recall that the Federal Government announced it had established a $50m Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Energy Fund in partnership with Afriexim Bank to deepen the use of LPG in Nigeria.
Kyari said the NNPC would work with its partners to facilitate the process in Nigeria no matter the massive investment drop in fossil fuel projects, even as oil firms exit Nigeria.
“Companies are divesting. They are leaving our country literally, that’s the best way to put it. But they are not leaving because opportunities are not there.
“It is because companies are shifting their portfolios where they can add value, and not just that, where they can also add to the journey towards net carbon zero production. We understand this very perfectly.
“But we can’t afford not to realise that this country must benefit from the realities of today”, he said.
He observed that presently in the sub-Saharan Africa, which includes Nigeria, countries are deficient in energy.
“There’s the poverty of energy and there’s a huge gap to be filled,” he stated, adding that “This country has the largest reserves of gas and crude oil including condensates, and therefore there’s simply no way you can transit to a net carbon zero situation without necessarily having a transition fuel.
“It is very clear to the world that gas will be the transition fuel. And that can’t happen except you are able to put in on the ground, convert it to a usable form and make it available to its users”, he said.
According to him, “you can’t do that except you find financing for it. And today we all understand the level of underfunding in the fossil fuel industry.”
Kyari continued that funding for fossil fuel projects had dropped by about 50 per cent when compared to what it was about 10 years ago.
“And the impacts are already showing. There’s a clear demand and supply gap that we are seeing today and that’s why we are seeing the $104 oil in the market today.
“No one has invested significantly in the last 10 years and more so in the last five years. And it is much more difficult in our country today because we are not able to invest in the fossil fuel industry in the last five years to the extent that we are seeing the effects of what that really means”, Kyari concluded.
On his part, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, called on the world to support a drive to develop African natural gas production.
Describing it as green energy to ramp up electricity output, Sylva said, “Africa is not denying the need to transit to renewable fuels, to cleaner energies, but we are only saying at this point, just when we are getting our act together, please allow us to enjoy our resources a little bit”.
Sylva explained that for countries such as Nigeria, “which was rich in natural resources but still energy poor, the transition must not come at the expense of affordable and reliable energy for people, cities, and industry”.
Also speaking, OPEC’s Secretary-General, Sanusi Barkindo, and other African energy ministers at the summit defended investments in fossil fuels, insisting that the global push for the energy transition to net carbon zero emission was not in favour of Africa.
They argued that Africa accounted for less than three per cent of global carbon emissions while some 600 million Africans had no access to electricity, stressing that it would be counter-productive to halt investments in fossil fuels in Africa.
“It would be a tragedy of unimaginable proportions if, despite billions of dollars being poured into investments for these resources, these went west as stranded assets”, he said.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has criticised Nigeria’s import ban on 25 categories of goods, claiming that the restrictions limit market access for American exporters.
This is the effect of President Donald Trump’s tariffs introduction on goods entering the United States, with Nigeria facing a 14 per cent duty.
The USTR highlighted the impact of Nigeria’s import ban on various sectors, particularly agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
The restrictions affect items such as beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and alcoholic beverages, which the United States sees as significant barriers to trade.
The agency argues that these limitations reduce export opportunities for United States businesses and lead to lost revenue.
“Nigeria’s import ban on 25 different product categories impacts United States exporters, particularly in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, beverages, and consumer goods.
“Restrictions on items like beef, pork, poultry, fruit juices, medicaments, and spirits limit United States market access and reduce export opportunities.
“These policies create significant trade barriers that lead to lost revenue for United States businesses looking to expand in the Nigerian market”, the agency said .
In 2016, Nigeria implemented the ban on these 25 items as part of efforts to control imports and stimulate local production.
Some of the banned items include poultry, pork, refined vegetable oil, sugar, cocoa products, spaghetti, beer, and certain medicines.
On March 26, 2025, the Federal Government also announced plans to halt solar panel imports to encourage local manufacturing as part of its push for clean energy.
A leading agribusiness strategist and digital agriculture expert, Ayo Oluwa Okediji, has sought cooperative-driven investments in sustaining growth of poultry industry in Nigeria.
He said the poultry industry was at a defining moment and requires urgent structural reforms to secure its future and ensure long-term sustainability.
Speaking on the theme, “Strengthening Poultry Farming Through Cooperative Synergy and Strategic Investments”, at the recently concluded Oyo Mega Poultry Workshop 2025 in Ibadan, Okediji called on poultry farmers, cooperative leaders, financial institutions and policy makers to rethink the existing structure of the poultry sector.
He stressed the need to transition from fragmented, individually-driven operations to well-structured, cooperative-led enterprises capable of attracting sustainable financing and securing long-term viability.
He said, “Our poultry sector cannot thrive on individual effort alone. We need to organise ourselves into cooperative clusters, build strong governance systems and position ourselves to attract the level of investment needed to sustain this industry beyond this generation.”
Drawing on lessons from successful global cooperative models such as Rabobank in the Netherlands and Landus Cooperative in the United States, Okediji introduced the FarmClusters Poultry Model, a locally adapted solution developed by Agribusiness Dynamics Technology Limited (AgDyna), a subsidiary of AgroInfoTech Africa.
According to him, the model is currently being piloted in Oyo State in partnership with PANOY Agribusiness Limited and local poultry cooperatives.
The Rivers State Representative of the Nigeria Chambers of Commerce, Mines, Industries and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Mr. Erasmus Chukwundah, has urged palm oil farmers to consider hybrid seedlings for planting, if they must break even in palm oil business.
Chukwundah said this recently at the Free Oil Palm Business Climate Smart Best Management Practice/Assistance Training organized by Partnership Initiative In Niger Delta (PIND) for Palm Oil Farmers in Elele, Ikwerre Local Government Area.
The Rivers representative said until palm oil farmers begin to consider such hybrid oil palm seedlings, they may not meet up with the daily increasing demand of palm oil in the market.
According to him, the seedlings produce up to 30 bunches at once that ripen same time.
He said PIND decided to partner with Oil Palm Growers Association of Nigeria (OPGAN) to ensure that the message was received by the targeted audience.
According to him, palm oil remained a popular choice of industry operators as it could be converted to many other products such as vegetable cooking oil.
He also noted that products such as motor tyers, marine ropes and others are now gotten from the palm tree.
Chukwundah, who is the immediate past Director-General of Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Mines, Industries, and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), further warned against use of unrecommended fertilisers in growing oil palms.
He noted that such practices could limit its export value or chances as the foreign marketers have a way of detecting such .
He reiterated the need for organic fertilizers, including poultry droppings, to enable them have a natural palm oil.
“People must reduce physical contact with palm oil production. That is why we are campaigning for hydrolic oil mills. The foreign markets are no longer interested in crude method of palm oil production”, he said.
Meanwhile, one of the farmers, Sonny Didia, who appreciated Chukwundah’s commitment towards the concern of farmers, appealed for an urgent need for loan opportunity with low interest rate in order to enable them beat the target.
King Onunwor