By Udeme Akpan
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) will conduct a digital licensing round for gas distribution areas before the end of 2026, following the completion of a nationwide gas-grid mapping exercise expected in October.
The Authority Chief Executive, Engr. Rabiu Umar, disclosed this on Wednesday at the Gas Investment Forum 2026, themed “Positioning Nigeria as Africa’s Global Gas Powerhouse.”
Umar said applicants would bid for gas distribution licences in designated areas across the country under a process similar to the award of Oil Mining Licences (OMLs) in the upstream sector.
“Under the licensing round, applicants will bid for gas distribution licences in the gridded areas available across the country, in the same way licensees apply for Oil Mining Licences (OMLs) in the upstream sector,” he said.
He said the initiative was part of efforts to move Nigeria from a fragmented gas-access system to an open-access regime that would allow more participants to use existing infrastructure.
“Without infrastructure, reserves are potential. They will continue to have potential,” Umar said.
“With infrastructure, gas becomes productivity and national resilience, especially in the light of the global headwinds that we see.”
According to him, the country needs infrastructure capable of moving gas from wellheads to processing plants, power stations, industrial clusters, transport corridors, homes and export terminals.
Umar said the Federal Government’s Decade of Gas Initiative was serving as an “engine of execution”, while NMDPRA was accelerating licences and approvals for gas processing plants, pipelines, storage facilities, compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects.
On pipeline access, Umar said the focus was not only on expanding infrastructure but ensuring that qualified market participants could use it.
“Open access is not just about having pipelines, but about who can use them. It’s not a market, it’s a gate,” he said.
He said NMDPRA was rebuilding the Nigerian Gas Transportation Network Code to establish clear and consistently applied rules for injecting gas into pipelines and taking it out, including the treatment of shrinkage.
Umar said companies with gas projects should be able to connect to existing pipelines under the law, including projects requiring connections of about 20 kilometres.
The regulator has also signed a cooperation framework with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to address anti-competitive practices, including price fixing, market sharing, abuse of dominance, capacity hoarding and discriminatory access.
Umar said the framework would protect competition while recognising the interests of existing investors.
“A pipeline already at full capacity cannot be compelled to hand space to another party,” he said.
He identified payment, supply reliability and pricing as major concerns for investors, stressing the importance of credible contracts, transparent tariffs, accurate measurement and enforceable rules.
“Markets run on trust, and trust runs on discipline,” he said.
Umar said NMDPRA was developing measurable conditions for a transition to a willing-buyer, willing-seller domestic gas market, including supply diversity, infrastructure access, contract performance, payment discipline, reliable market data and credible pricing.
“As it is today, I do not believe we are there yet,” he said.
The Authority is targeting September 24, 2028, for the domestic gas market to meet the conditions for maturity, ahead of the initial 2030 target.
Umar said the transition would be based on “real tests” rather than a declaration alone, adding that the regulator must balance investment incentives with affordability.
“Too much focus on investment could produce prices that leave no uptakers, while too much focus on low prices could dry up investment,” he said.
He described regulators as “nothing but referees”, stressing the need for clear rules that provide certainty for investors while supporting a functional domestic gas market.
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