Nigeria’s gas output rose month-on-month, MoM, by 2.9 per cent to 2,292,951 million standard cubic feet, MSCF, in November 2024, from 2,292,471MSCF recorded in October 2024.
But on a Year-on-Year, YoY, basis, the nation’s gas output increased marginally by 0.02 per cent to 2,292,951 MSCF in the first 11 months (January – November) of 2024, from 2,292,471MSCF recorded in the corresponding period of 2023.
However, of the 2,292,951MSCF produced during the period, 606,658MSCF was consumed locally, indicating an increase of 1.6 per cent against 596,861MSCF consumed locally during the same period in 2023.
The details also show that 829,156MSCF was exported to generate foreign exchange for the nation, indicating an increase of 6.9 per cent against 775,547MSCF exported in the corresponding period of 2023, according to the latest Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC’s gas report.
The Ministry of Petroleum Resources (Gas) did not comment on the nation’s output, but other informed sources pointed to the continuous dominance of oil over gas.
Unlike gas, the NUPRC’s report – Oil Production Output – indicated that the nation’s oil output, including Condensate, increased year-on-year, YoY, by 13.3 per cent to 1.7 million barrels per day, bpd, in November 2024, from 1.5 million bpd recorded in the corresponding period of 2023.
But on month-on-month, MoM basis, the nation’s output rose by 10 per cent to 1.7 million barrels per day, bpd, in November 2024, from 1.5 million bpd in October 2024.
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprises, CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf, said that the non-oil sector has continued to dominate the economic space during the period.
In his 2025 Outlook, he said: “From a structural perspective, the non-oil sector continues to dominate the economic space with the sector contributing 94.43% of the country’s GDP in Q3 2024, while the oil sector contributed 5.57%.
“However, the economy is characterized by a paradox of the oil sector contributing an estimated 90% of foreign exchange earnings while the non-oil sector accounts for about10%.
“This is a structural shortcoming in our economy which needs to be addressed as sectors that contribute hugely to GDP have no corresponding contribution to foreign exchange earnings.
“However, it is noteworthy that the non-oil sector contribution to revenue has improved markedly in recent times. This economic structure reflects the enormous productivity and competitiveness challenges of the non-oil sector of the Nigerian economy.
“The policy implication is that more should be done to fix the challenges of productivity and competitiveness of the non-oil sector of the economy. Most of these challenges are the structural issues, infrastructural challenges, funding constraints, regulatory issues and the general macroeconomic headwinds.”