Nigeria's Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has increased the domestic base price of natural gas for power generation companies to $2.18 per metric million British thermal units (MMBtu), up from $2.13. The change, effective April 1, 2026, was announced in a circular signed by NMDPRA chief executive officer Saidu Mohammed. Commercial users will now pay $2.68 per MMBtu, up from $2.63. Gas-based industries such as those producing ammonia, urea, methanol, and low-sulphur diesel will operate within a price range of $0.90 to $2.18 per MMBtu.
The NMDPRA cited Section 167(1) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), market conditions, and the Gas Pricing and Domestic Demand Regulations as the basis for the adjustment. The pricing framework aims to balance the need to attract upstream gas supply with maintaining affordability for domestic users. Power companies already face over $6 billion in accumulated debt, foreign exchange challenges, and inconsistent gas supply. The government hopes the revised pricing will encourage more gas producers to prioritise the local market without overburdening power generators. Nigeria's grid has long operated below capacity, with gas availability a key constraint.
A five-cent gas price hike won't fix Nigeria's power sector—what matters is whether Saidu Mohammed's NMDPRA can enforce payment discipline across the value chain. The sector's core problems are not pricing but a $6 billion debt pile and broken off-taker reliability. If generators still can't pay for gas, even at $2.18, the adjustment changes nothing on the ground. Without tackling the financial rot, incremental moves like this are just accounting exercises.
