CNG stations across Nigeria hit 106 amid $2.6 billion in private-sector investments – FG

The Federal Government has disclosed that about 106 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) refuelling stations are operational across the country, with $2.6 billion in private-sector investments coming in to expand the project.

The Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles (Pi-CNG), Ismaeel Ahmed, disclosed this on Friday at the official inauguration of a CNG Integrated Refuelling Unit station in Karu, Abuja, which was attended by Nairametrics.

The Karu project was launched through a partnership involving the State House, Pi-CNG and Electric Vehicles, and Rolling Energy.

CNG investment reaches $2.6 billion

Ahmed said the CNG project had continued to scale, adding that the inauguration marked the 106th station across the country in less than two years.

He highlighted the growing interest from investors, noting that “$2.6 billion in private investment” had so far come into the project to support the Federal Government’s initiative.

He also disclosed that President Bola Tinubu had ordered another round of about 500 infrastructure refuelling units to be established through the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF).

• “It’s a scale thing. Nigeria is 220 million people strong, 12 million vehicles. We are moving at a scale that we need to move. The work is in progress,” he said.

Providing an update on the project’s progress, Ahmed said Nigeria currently had about 106 operational refuelling stations across the country, while another 170 were at different stages of development or awaiting various licences from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

He added that the CNG project had significantly reduced transportation costs by about 30% to 40%, particularly along routes where CNG-powered buses operate.

He explained that the current goal was to extend the development to every nook and cranny of the country, particularly areas with commercial vehicles and high-traffic corridors.

State House backs CNG expansion

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary of the State House, Temitope Fashedemi, said the new facility represented the government’s commitment to promoting CNG as an alternative means of transportation.

He encouraged greater private-sector participation in the programme, explaining that the facility was established by converting an abandoned petrol dispensing station belonging to the State House into a CNG refuelling and vehicle conversion centre.

According to him, the State House provided the existing facility, while Rolling Energy invested in its rehabilitation and the installation of the necessary equipment without any government expenditure on the project.

The Chief Executive Officer of Rolling Energy, Mubarak Danbatta, said the facility demonstrated the benefits that can be derived when government institutions and private investors collaborate in expanding alternative fuel infrastructure.

Backstory

In August 2026, the Executive Director of the MDGIF, Oluwole Adama, disclosed that the Fund was supporting about 200 gas infrastructure projects nationwide to unlock Nigeria’s 200 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.

Adama made this disclosure during a fireside chat at the West African Refined Fuels Market (WARFM) Conference in Abuja.

He highlighted that the development was part of the Fund’s strategy to bridge a reported $20 billion annual deficit in Nigeria’s gas infrastructure.

Similarly, the Executive Director of Finance and Accounts at the NMDPRA, Abiodun Adeniji, had expressed optimism that the planned launch of the African Energy Bank would provide financing at rates closer to those available in foreign jurisdictions.

Nigeria’s gas infrastructure investment gap

In early 2025, the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Dr Ogbonnaya Orji, said Nigeria needed $20 billion annually for 10 years in gas infrastructure investment.

Orji made this assertion during his presentation of the latest NEITI oil and gas industry report to the Senate Committee on Public Accounts.

• Nigeria has the largest gas reserves in Africa and is among the top 10 countries globally with the largest gas reserves.
• However, a significant portion of these reserves remains untapped due to inadequate investment in infrastructure.
• In March 2025, the Federal Government launched a N2.5 billion credit scheme to encourage vehicle conversions to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and the manufacturing of conversion kits.
• The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (PCNGi), which disclosed the development, said the initiative was aimed at easing energy and transportation costs in Nigeria.

The government’s continued efforts to attract private investment and expand CNG infrastructure are part of its broader push to promote alternative transportation fuels and address the country’s infrastructure financing gap.