Nigeria’s domestic Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) market is recording notable gains following a Federal Government policy mandating that LPG produced by upstream operators be reserved for local consumption, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, has said.
Ekpo disclosed this on Thursday while delivering a keynote address at the National Gas Day session of the 9th Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES 2026) in Abuja.
He said the policy has boosted the availability of cooking gas for households, stabilised prices and shielded consumers from volatility in the global energy market.
According to the minister, Nigeria’s LPG market had for years been constrained by inadequate domestic processing capacity, forcing the country to rely heavily on imports despite its vast gas reserves.
This dependence, he noted, exposed households to international price fluctuations, foreign exchange shocks and recurring supply shortages, often leading to sharp increases in retail prices.
To address the challenge this, the minister said, “We have successfully championed the domestication of LPG volumes produced by upstream operators. This strategic intervention has increased LPG availability for domestic consumption, stabilised the price of this critical household commodity, and reduced exposure to international price volatility, bringing relief to millions of Nigerian homes.”
Beyond household LPG use, the minister said the government is deepening reforms in the gas sector and strengthening gas-to-power development, noting that gas currently accounts for more than 70 per cent of Nigeria’s on-grid electricity generation.
He also revealed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the establishment of a National Gas Infrastructure Command Centre to monitor, coordinate and optimise gas infrastructure nationwide, improve efficiency and ensure faster responses to disruptions across the value chain.