Gazprom comes knocking in Nigeria

Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom is in talks with Nigeria to spend up to $2.5 billion on developing the West African country’s vast natural gas reserves.

Gazprom has come twice to visit the federal government. They want to invest in Nigeria in gas exploitation, gathering and processing. Gazprom has offered to invest between $1 billion and $2.5 billion to begin with. Nigeria is the world's eighth-biggest exporter of crude but even though it has the seventh-largest proven gas reserves in the world it has not developed its gas industry to anywhere near full potential. Investors say the lack of a stable fiscal framework and market pricing for gas means that most investment ideas in the sector are uneconomic. UK-based companies BG Group and Centrica have also proposed multi-billion dollar investments in Nigerian gas, the official added, asking not to be named because he is not allowed to talk publicly on behalf of the government. Nigeria exports about 18 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas every year through Nigeria LNG, jointly owned by the state energy company, Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell, France’s Total and Italy’s Agip.
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