Seplat Energy Plc, Nigeria’s leading independent energy company, has identified domestic gas as the key to Nigeria and Africa’s prosperity – from powering homes, to fuelling industry and providing a cleaner alternative for cooking and transportation, which is the reason the company is investing heavily in gas processing capacity and devoting it to the domestic market, including its ANOH gas plant expected to come on stream before the end of the year.
The Director, New Energy at Seplat, Mr. Okechukwu Mba, said this at the 2025 Africa Energy Week (AEW) held in Cape Town, South Africa. Mba, who spoke during a panel discussion titled “Beyond Exports: Developing Commercially Viable Domestic Gas Markets”, said stakeholders need to ensure that the challenges in the gas to power value chain from molecules at the wellhead to electrons in homes are addressed for Nigeria to realize the goal of increased power supply to Nigerians. He also emphasized the importance of a commercially viable power sector which is critical to achieving growth in the domestic gas market.
He said: “Bankable anchor customers are needed to underpin the development of new gas projects whilst identifying infrastructural challenges in power transmission and distribution as well as the liquidity crises in the power sector as two areas that require urgent attention in order to unlock new gas projects. Mba highlighted that Seplat Energy currently supplies gas to five (5) power stations in Nigeria which underscores its commitment to the power sector, noting that gas is well positioned to provide reliable and affordable base load energy to drive to economic growth.
According to Mba, Seplat Energy adopts a comprehensive approach to growing the domestic gas market. “Beside investments in pipeline gas projects, Seplat is also investing in Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) facilities,” he added.
In addition to the significant volumes of butane now supplied to the domestic market from its NGL plant in Bonny River Terminal, Seplat Energy also intends to commence delivery of LPG from its Sapele and ANOH gas plants before the end of the year. This, Mba said, will make Seplat Energy one of the leading suppliers of LPG, displacing biomass and providing a cleaner cooking fuel that will improve the health and living conditions of Nigerians. He added that Seplat Energy’s investment into CNG was to make gas available to customers not currently connected to the domestic gas pipeline network.
The New Energy boss at Seplat stated that the company plans to take its operated gas production to over 1 Bcf/d by 2030, while noting that the recent incentives granted by government to the gas sector will aid the achievement of this goal.
In a related development, the Director External Affairs & Social Performance, Seplat Energy, Chioma Afe, who featured in a panel discussion dubbed “Bureaucracy or Bridge? Tailoring Global ESG Approaches for African Realities”, said in all the company’s moves in driving access to reliable and affordable energy for Nigerians, ESG fundamentals are strongly upheld and practicalised.
According to her, the peculiarities of the Nigerian people and Africa at large remain very germane in implementing Seplat Energy’s ESG framework and affirming its commitments.
She said: “For a truly successful and impactful ESG implementation, it is highly imperative to move from a “one size fits all” mindset, to a co-created framework and implementation that is focused on value creation and empowers African nations to define their own sustainable growth plan. One that ensures ESG principles become a bridge across industries and countries driving growth and not a bureaucratic exercise.”
“Adapting ESG to local needs is key. Therefore, we should explore customizing global ESG frameworks to address the unique socio-economic conditions, developmental challenges, including infrastructure, education and healthcare, as well as vulnerabilities to climate change and economic empowerment, across the continent.”
Speaking to the company’s model, she noted that: “At Seplat Energy, our approach has been a regular and systematic process of identifying and analyzing the development ‘gaps’ in our areas of operation and partnering with our communities to define project goals, prioritize resources and develop effective strategies to achieve them.”
