FG discloses addition of over 1bn barrels of crude oil, 2.57trn new gas stock

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum and Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has disclosed on Monday, April 15, 2024, that Nigeria’s hydrocarbon reserves have jumped by 1.087 billion barrels, and gas reserves have increased by about 2.57 trillion cubic feet.

The West African country can now brag about 37.5 billion crude oil reserves, with a total gas resource of 209.26 trillion cubic feet.

The Chief Executive of NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, made this known during an event and explained that the reserves' lives also stand at 68.01 years and 97.99 years for oil and gas, respectively.

An analysis indicates that crude oil and condensate reserves currently stand at 31.56 billion barrels and 5.94 barrels, respectively, and are expected to reach about 37.50 billion barrels.

Also, gas and non-associated gas reserves stand at 102.59 trillion cubic feet and 106.67 trillion cubic feet, for 209.26 trillion cubic feet.

According to ThisDay, only Libya, with its over 48 billion oil reserves, tops Nigeria in Africa.

At the same time, Nigeria leads in gas reserves on the continent, with over 33% of the entire continent's reserves.

Komolafe stated that NUPRC has been working towards President Bola Tinubu's policies to improve the performance of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector and boost the growth of the country’s oil and gas reserves to ensure stable production.

He said the event's significance was to reveal Nigeria’s capacity regarding the proven abundance of hydrocarbons.

The NUPRC boss said that most of the new additions to the reserves were from brownfields, especially recent productions from fields owned by the last marginal oil field awardees.

Reports say that Kolomolafe disclosed that the NUPRC was committed to improving Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves and completing all strategic initiatives to enhance the sector’s productivity, including Nigeria’s Gas Flare Commercialisation Plan (NGFCP).

He said the plan would lead to Nigeria’s promise to end gas flaring within a decade and contribute to reducing global emissions, as well as the Domestic Crude Oil Supply Obligations to meet domestic refineries.

In its recent oil report, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said Nigeria has fallen short of its daily crude oil quota for March 2024, leading to Libya overthrowing the country as the continent’s largest producer for the month.