Gas
Nigeria expands CNG infrastructure with 160 stations active
Nigeria has reached 160 operational compressed natural gas stations as private investors commit billions of dollars to alternative fuel infrastructure.
Key points
- Nigeria currently operates approximately 160 compressed natural gas stations nationwide.
- Private investors have committed $2.6bn to develop domestic gas infrastructure.
- The federal administration targets hundreds of additional units to reduce transport costs.
Punch reported that Nigeria has reached a milestone of 160 operational compressed natural gas refuelling sites, with another 170 facilities currently proceeding through various stages of licensing and construction. Ismaeel Ahmed, who leads the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles, revealed these figures during the commissioning of a new integrated refuelling unit in Karu, Abuja.
Private capital commitments toward building out the necessary supply network have reached $2.6bn according to the administration. Furthermore, President Bola Tinubu has mandated an additional rollout of roughly 500 infrastructure units via the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund. Officials noted that the initiative has progressed past the initial conceptual phase into a broad scaling period designed to accommodate the country's vehicle population of approximately 12 million.
The deployment of gas-powered buses has yielded tangible economic relief for commuters on specific routes. Punch reported that passenger fares dropped by 30 to 40 per cent in areas where these transit vehicles operate, including corridors linking Abuja, Lagos, and Kano. For instance, travel costs between Kano and Katsina fell significantly following the introduction of alternative fuel buses.
This push toward gas adoption intensified following the removal of fuel subsidies in 2023, which sharply raised petrol prices. The new Karu station itself was established through a public-private partnership, converting an abandoned petrol site belonging to the State House without direct government capital expenditure, with Rolling Energy executing the facility upgrade.
Why it matters
Fuel exports account for 85.9 per cent of Nigeria's merchandise exports as of 2025, according to World Bank figures provided by CEII data, highlighting the heavy macroeconomic reliance on hydrocarbons. However, domestic consumption has faced severe cost pressures since subsidy removals. With global energy markers showing Brent crude at $107.03 per barrel and US gasoline spot prices at $2.728 per gallon in early November 2026, transitioning domestic transport to compressed natural gas offers a vital domestic buffer.
Scaling local gas utilisation helps monetise abundant domestic reserves that might otherwise be flared, lowering logistics overhead for businesses and easing inflation for citizens. For energy investors and policymakers in Nigeria, accelerating these refuelling networks is critical to creating a sustainable, lower-cost domestic energy ecosystem that insulates the broader economy from external petroleum price shocks.
Original reporting
This article draws on the following reports. Read them in full on the publishers’ sites.
Context from CEII
Gas is the flexible backbone of many grids and the designated transition fuel in many national plans, from LNG trade to domestic LPG and CNG. Supply security and pricing drive both power reliability and emissions.
72.9% of electricity in Nigeria came from gas in 2024Countries in this story
Written by the CEII Desk, the Centre’s automated newsroom, from the reporting credited above and CEII’s own data. Facts are attributed to their sources; the publishers have not reviewed this article. Spotted an error? Tell our editors.
