Nigeria’s gas boom stalls on pricing gap- Onyeukwu

Humphrey Onyeukwu is the group head, legal and company secretary for Oilserv Group. In this interview with the media at the just concluded Nigerian Gas Association, NGA Legal Forum 2026, Maiden Edition, he explains the expectations from the country’s legal system and, hitherto, structures to secure gains as well as boost revenue in the petroleum industry and the economy.

Oilserv is a conglomerate that offers Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) services, with involvement spanning the oil sector, agriculture, and gas processing facilities. It is a business firmly rooted in the ecosystem of the oil and gas industry, and Onyeukwu speaks from a vantage point that few others in the sector can claim. Dipo Oladehinde brings excerpts:

How do you describe the industry at this point?

From where we sit as an operator, we appreciate that a great deal of progress has been made in the gas sector. Movement has happened, conversations have been had, and frameworks have been laid. However, much more is still required to address the constraints that continue to affect the business — particularly distribution constraints and related bottlenecks that have not yet received the level of attention they deserve.

The government is currently pursuing the Decade of Gas initiative. Do you think the appropriate legal framework is in place to ensure its success?

Gas is at the heart of everything we do at Oilserv. We are a major contributor, with involvement across key projects. I would say approximately 80 percent of the infrastructure blueprint under the Nigeria Gas Market Plan, which forms part of the Decade of Gas initiative, involves us in one way or another. We are pursuing the expansion of gas infrastructure to ensure the commercialisation of our domestic gas market. We are in the heart of it.

We are involved in the ANOH project, which is centred on taking gas from the East and injecting it into the OB3. We are involved in the OB3 project itself, the AKK, and quite a number of others — all of which form part of the broader Decade of Gas framework.

So, yes, the gas initiatives are commendable, particularly given that Nigeria has designated gas as its transitional energy. However, I would say that more effort is required in implementation to attract the level of liquidity needed to complement these initiatives. The government is demonstrating good intentions and lending meaningful support. Businesses like ours are bringing expertise and capacity to help actualise those goals.

But the bigger picture we want to see is a market system that genuinely encourages investment — one built on what I would call market-reality pricing. Without that, many of these projects may never reach their full potential or peak capacity. We are pleased with what we are seeing, but we strongly encourage the government to push further.

Beyond execution, what other challenges do you believe need to be addressed?

Pricing is the next critical issue. The level of pricing that justifies the investment does not always align with the level that offtakers are willing to accept. That disconnect tends to stunt the impact of the Decade of Gas initiatives. There ought to be more projects, more pipelines being built, and more gas processing facilities coming online — because Nigeria is, for all practical purposes, a gas province.

We have enormous gas reserves, and the task is about domesticating that gas to serve our local needs. But here is the reality: gas pricing requires a certain level of rationality. If I have a choice between selling gas domestically or exporting it, and I find that exporting yields far greater value, the decision becomes obvious. I strongly believe that resolving the pricing issue will unlock a wave of positive investment that we have yet to see.

To what extent is the current legal framework guiding access to funding in the industry?

The legal framework has a larger role to play, and much credit must go to the Petroleum Industry Act, which has done significant work in bringing certainty to our legal environment. That has helped considerably. But money follows value. If the market offers meaningful returns, funding will follow naturally.

For me, the legal framework has matured. We have the laws. We have the regulations. They have provided a development pathway that we can see taking shape. But beyond the legal framework, what the industry truly needs is commercial viability. That is what stimulates growth, and that is what unlocks funding for infrastructural development. If there is clarity — if an investor can look at a project and confidently say that putting capital in will yield a recoverable return plus profit — then more funding will flow. That, I believe, is the conversation we need to be having.

What is your advice to the government for further growth?

Government is a key factor in this development process. My advice is straightforward: do more in terms of funding major infrastructure projects, particularly pipeline infrastructure, which may struggle to attract sufficient private capital on its own. The commercials remain uncertain because prices are not market-reflective, and that reality continues to deter the level of investment the sector needs.

We need government, and we need partners. The North-South Gas Pipeline, for instance, is a critical project that will help unlock stranded gas from the East. Government support for such infrastructure brings real, tangible benefits to the sector and puts more gas into the market. The government must actively ensure new infrastructural development while creating an enabling environment for businesses to operate and thrive.

How do you assess the conference overall?

It was an excellent gathering, strong topics, productive sessions, and meaningful participation. We learned a great deal and connected with colleagues working across different spaces in the industry. It was a good one, and I look forward to more of it in the future.