Nigeria’s drive toward gas-led industrialisation received a major boost at the weekend as Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) entered into an enhanced gas supply arrangement aimed at supporting large-scale expansion projects across the Dangote Group.
The upgraded agreement, which strengthens existing Gas Sales and Purchase Agreements (GSPAs), involves three key Dangote subsidiaries—Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Dangote Fertiliser Plant and Dangote Cement Plc—and two NNPC subsidiaries, Nigerian Gas Marketing Limited and NNPC Gas Infrastructure Company Limited (NGIC). The deal is designed to guarantee long-term, reliable gas supply to meet rising energy demand from Dangote’s expanding operations.
The expanded gas supply framework is expected to play a critical role in delivering Dangote Group’s Vision 2030, driving higher production capacity, improving energy efficiency, and accelerating the transition to cleaner fuel alternatives across its industrial footprint.
The agreements were formalised during the unveiling of the NNPC Gas Master Plan 2026 (NGMP 2026) at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, an event that underscored the Federal Government’s renewed focus on execution-driven gas sector reforms.
Speaking after the signing, Managing Director of Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Mr. David Bird, said the agreement represents a strategic step toward securing the refinery’s growing energy needs. He described the deal as a critical milestone that aligns with the refinery’s expansion plans and ensures adequate gas supply to support anticipated increases in production capacity.
Group Managing Director of Dangote Cement Plc, Mr. Arvid Pathak, also highlighted the importance of the agreement in advancing the company’s long-term strategy. According to him, the guaranteed gas supply will support Dangote Cement’s push toward compressed natural gas (CNG) adoption as auto fuel, while meeting increasing demand as local production capacity continues to expand. He added that the partnership reinforces the company’s commitment to cleaner energy use and more efficient industrial output.
Dangote Fertiliser FZE, for its part, noted that the agreement would underpin ongoing fertiliser expansion projects, stressing that natural gas remains a core feedstock for fertiliser production and is essential to scaling output.
At the event, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, described the Gas Master Plan as a decisive shift from policy formulation to disciplined execution. He said the NGMP 2026 reflects a more integrated, commercially driven approach to gas sector development, anchored on coordination across the value chain.
According to the minister, Nigeria’s status as a gas-rich nation has never been in doubt, but the key challenge has always been translating reserves into reliable supply, infrastructure into value, and policy into measurable economic outcomes. He noted that the Master Plan directly addresses these gaps and aligns with the Federal Government’s Decade of Gas Initiative, positioning natural gas as a cornerstone of energy security, industrialisation, and a just energy transition.
Ojulari said the plan is structured not only to meet but exceed the Presidential mandate of increasing national gas production to 10 billion cubic feet per day by 2027 and 12 billion cubic feet per day by 2030. He added that the roadmap is expected to catalyse over $60 billion in new investments across the oil and gas value chain by the end of the decade.
He further explained that the Master Plan prioritises cost optimisation, operational excellence, and the systematic upgrade of gas resources from 3P to bankable 2P reserves, while strengthening gas supply to power generation, CNG, LPG, Mini-LNG, and key industrial consumers.
Reaffirming his commitment to the initiative, Ojulari said NNPC has adopted a more collaborative and investor-centric approach in developing NGMP 2026, with strong alignment among industry stakeholders, partners, and investors to ensure effective implementation.