Nigeria’s crude oil reserve drops to 36.9b barrels, as natural gas status rises to 208.83 tcf as at Jan. 2023

Oredola Adeola

Nigeria’s crude oil and condensate reserves status as at January 1, 2023, has dropped to a total of 36.966 billion barrels, compared to 37.046 billion barrels recorded as at Jan. 1, 2022, which was attributed to the low exploration activities and reserves revision arising from subsurface studies in the year 2022.

Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC stated this on Friday, in his remark at the closing session.

EnergyDay gathered that the oil and condensate reserves declined by 0.22% compared to January 01, 2022.

The Commission’s CE also stated that Nigeria’s national gas reserve (associated and non-associated) reserves status increased to 208.83 trillion cubic feet(tcf) as at January 1, 2023, from 208.62 tcf as at Jan. 1, 2021, representing a growth of 0.22%.

The figure released by the CCE showed that the associated gas reserve status as at the period under review was 102.32 tcf, while non-associated gas reserves stood at 106.51 tcf.

Komolafe however attributed the 0.10 percent increase to the revisions arising from additional information from new wells, and field development studies.

EnergyDay’s check showed that the country’s reserve status is in line with the provisions of PIA 2021 stipulating that operating exploration and production companies should submit their annual report of reserves to NUPRC.

The CCE further said that Nigeria is suitably positioned to become a superpower in the unfolding energy transition regime given its population of over 200 million people and abundant energy sources to achieve the right energy mix for the sustainability of its energy supply.

Komolafe also said with the attractive fiscal, legal and regulatory provisions in the Petroleum Industry Act(PIA), vast opportunities for investment abound for investors to leverage.

He said, “Some of these opportunities include the development of deeper hydrocarbon opportunities, conversion of producing marginal fields to Production Mining Leases (PMLs) and clear definitions for domestic supply and delivery of crude oil and gas respectively to create potential for a robust domestic market to mention just a few.

‘The NUPRC is deliberately implementing strategic actions and initiatives aimed at increasing national crude oil and gas reserves and production.”

The CCE also stated that the regulatory and governance framework provided in the PIA has empowered the Commission to develop Regulations in consultation with stakeholders for conducive operating environment and buy-in of communities on the activities of industry operators.

He said, “The Commission as part of its achievement has registered 72 Host Community Development Trusts (HCDT) in effective implementation of the PIA aside from engaging on sensitisation workshops on the HostCom implementation.

“The Commission has in partnership with an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) developed an intelligent, digital, automated platform for reporting and monitoring the Host 18 Community Development Trust (HCDT) for transparent administration of the HostCom provisions of the PIA.

“The portal ready to go live for subscription is scheduled to be launched in the weeks ahead by the Commission and is designed to meet specific requirements of HCDT as enshrined in the PIA.