The Managing Director of ANOH Gas Processing Company Limited (AGPC), Engr. Effiong Okon has reaffirmed the central role of gas in Nigeria’s energy transition, describing it as a ‘destination fuel and a key pillar of national prosperity’.
At the Gas Investment Forum 2025, held at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos, Okon highlighted the strategic importance of gas as both an economic enabler and a cleaner energy alternative for industrialisation.
He said: ‘Gas investment and development is very different from oil — it’s more complex in all dimensions (upfront investment, requirements for commercial maturity, offtake agreements, end to end infrastructure requirement, upstream dependency, etc.), but absolutely essential to sustainable development. The good news is that the world has now accepted gas as a key part of the global energy mix considering the lower carbon intensity when compared to oil, coal, biomass’, he said.
He cited global benchmarks to underscore the capital intensity of gas development from Nigeria LNG Train 7’s $10 billion investment to Qatar’s $83 billion expansion and Mozambique’s $20 billion gas project, adding that the world’s biggest economies are betting on gas, and Nigeria cannot be left behind.
Okon said that the ANOH gas project, developed under the International Joint Venture between NNPC Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC) and Seplat Energy PLC, represents a model for public-private collaboration in the gas sector.
‘Our project in Imo State is designed for a processing capacity of 300 million standard cubic feet per day, expandable to double or even triple that. The total investment is about $850 million, 50% funded by Seplat and 50% by NGIC’, he explained.
Despite delays to the OB3 pipeline, the company plans to commence operations in Q4 2025 through an alternative export market to NLNG in Bonny Island.
He added; ‘FID (Final Investment Decision) was taken in 2019, and we’ve since achieved over 17 million man-hours Lost Time Injury-free, which is remarkable considering the complexity of our operating environment. Through collaboration and effective community relations, we’ve managed all non-technical risks, from security to stakeholder engagement’.
Okon emphasised that gas holds a strong multiplier effect across Nigeria’s economy, powering industries, enabling fertilizer and glass production, supporting power generation, and promoting cleaner alternatives for domestic energy.
He said: ‘No nation can prosper without reliable energy. If you are energy-deficient, you remain poor and that’s the challenge Nigeria must overcome’, he stated, adding that there are no rich nations in the world without energy sufficiency likewise all poor nations have energy poverty.
‘Gas investment will strengthen our energy security and support broader social goals such as education, healthcare, and environmental sustainability,’ he further said. AGPC and its shareholders, he noted, are convinced that gas can play a major role in displacing more polluting fuels.
‘Gas emits 30 – 40% less greenhouse gas emissions than oil and can replace biomass and diesel, which together represent a 2.4 million terajoule opportunity for gas producers’, Okon said.
While Nigeria holds 210 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, the MD noted that a realistic pricing framework and financial discipline are vital to unlocking value.
‘You cannot invest $850 million in a midstream gas processing facility and expect to sell gas at $1 per MMBtu, it’s simply not viable’, he cautioned. Revenue from the midstream gas business also pays for the investment in the upstream, where the gas molecules journey begins from the reservoirs through wells and other related hardware.
He commended the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) for improving fiscal terms and creating a more attractive environment for investors.
‘The PIA may have come two decades late, but it provides the best framework yet, lower taxes, better incentives, and a clearer structure for investors’, he said.
The AGPC boss underscored that no single player could develop Nigeria’s gas economy alone.
‘Our $850 million plant was financed through equal equity contributions from Seplat and NNPC, complemented by debt from seven banks and condensate offtaker. That’s the kind of partnership we need, shared risk and shared reward’, he said.
He added that projects such as AKK, OB3, and the government’s CNG initiative are crucial to unlocking demand, but success depends on synchronizing all parts of the energy value chain.
‘Every link in the gas-to-power chain must work, from generation to distribution to billing. Tariffs must reflect true cost, otherwise investment will stall’, he stressed.
Responding to a question on fast-tracking processing capacity and ensuring gas availability, especially in the Southeast, the MD outlined five key priorities:
- Resolve legacy debts across the power and gas value chains to restore investor confidence
- Clear outstanding payments to gas producers to sustain upstream production
- Review domestic gas pricing to make projects bankable and attract private capital
- Develop demand centres in the southeast, supported by new pipeline infrastructure linking OB3, Assa, Obibo North, Ikot Abasi, and the Qua Iboe Terminal
- Boost upstream investment, recognising that “without drilling new wells, there’s no midstream or downstream.”
‘The southeast is fast emerging as a gas-based industrial hub, from Imo State’s planned Orashi Energy Free Trade Zone to the new pipeline interconnections across the region’, he said.
Okon said that the case for gas is clear as the challenge is growing the economy around it. ‘If we can replicate what Dangote and Indorama have done across multiple regions with the investment in gas-based industries, Nigeria will prosper, because we have more than enough gas feedstock. What we need now is good policies framework, streamlining of regulatory requirements, good security, boldness with investment under a long range strategy/horizon, access to low cost capital, infrastructure development, better gas pricing, payment of legacy debts, collaboration, and focus’, he said.
