According to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the nation’s oil and condensate reserves were 36.966 billion barrels as of January 1, 2023.
This equates to 31.060 billion oil barrels and 5.906 billion condensate barrels.
At the sixth Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES 2023) with the theme, “Global Perspective for a Sustainable Energy Future,” Gbenga Komolafe, the NUPRC Chief Executive, stated that the associated gas reserves were at 102.32 trillion cubic feet (TCF) and the non-associated gas reserves were at 106.51 TCF, for a total of 208.83 TCF of natural gas reserves.
According to the numbers, the oil and condensate reserves decreased by around 0.22 percent as of January 1, 2022, and were attributed to a lack of exploration activity and reserve revisions as a result of subsurface investigations in 2022.
On the other hand, adjustments resulting from more information from new wells and field development studies were principally responsible for the minor rise of 0.10 percent in gas reserves above the reserves position as of January 1, 2022.
Through strategic oil and gas exploration, deep drilling, prospects maturation, appraisal, field studies, and better oil recovery, the Commission, backed by the PIA, has continued to drive the upstream industry’s performance to grow reserves.
In the very near future, he predicted, “we expect a similar manifestation in oil reserves,” as “our efforts are beginning to manifest in our gas reserves position.”
Komolafe claims that Nigeria has a total proven oil reserve of 37.064 billion barrels and produces more than 1.5 million barrels per day.
According to him, Nigeria has the second largest reserves in Africa, eighth largest in OPEC, and eleventh largest in the world.
In terms of crude oil production, he claimed that the nation was rated first in Africa, sixth in OPEC, and fifteenth overall.
It’s interesting to know that Nigeria has a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of $1,998, placing her 12th among OPEC members and 22nd overall in Africa.
“Although crude oil accounts for over 85% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange profits, it only contributes about 6.33 percent to GDP, compared to 10.2 percent for Algeria, 30 percent for Angola, and over 50% for Libya.
Nigeria is a country where opportunity meets need, according to Komolafe.
Aside from the hydrocarbon potential listed, he claimed that Nigeria was gifted with the ability to harness the proper energy mix throughout the energy transition regime using sources of renewable energy including biomass, solar, wind, and blue energy.
