The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, has highlighted Nigeria’s vast gas reserves as a strategic energy source for powering the nation’s planned 4,000km, 350km/h high-speed rail network.
Speaking on Monday at the International Railway Conference 2025 in Abuja, Ekpo said the project would open new opportunities for trade, investment, and industrial growth across Nigeria and Africa.
He noted that while crude oil has long dominated the economy, President Bola Tinubu’s administration has repositioned gas as central to the country’s energy and industrial strategy under the “Decade of Gas Initiative.”
With proven reserves of 210 trillion cubic feet and a potential of 600 trillion cubic feet, Ekpo said gas could provide clean, affordable, and sustainable energy for railway infrastructure, as well as fuel industrial hubs and urban centres connected to the rail network.
He added that gas can also be converted into cleaner transport fuels such as Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) and LNG, reducing emissions and ensuring cost efficiency for rail systems.
According to him, the high-speed rail project will create new economic corridors where gas-based industries—fertilisers, petrochemicals, methanol, and CNG hubs—can thrive, boosting Nigeria’s industrialisation drive under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Ekpo stressed that the initiative aligns with Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, aimed at creating jobs, reducing poverty, and positioning Nigeria as an industrial and energy hub for West and Central Africa.
