Abundant gas reserves alone would not translate into development without deliberate policies to deepen local participation, skills and ownership in Nigeria's value chain, Ekperikpe Ekpo, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), has said.
He spoke on Monday, at the opening ceremony of the 9th Nigerian International Energy Summit (NIES 2026) themed: "Energy for Peace and Prosperity: Securing Our Shared Future."
He described the sector as Nigeria's most immediate and scalable pathway to prosperity.
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Speaking at a strategic session titled: "Local Content Beyond Compliance: Building African Industrial Powerhouses," he emphasized that natural gas remains central to Nigeria's economic diversification plans and its broader energy transition agenda
He said: "The gas sector is not only critical to energy security and a pragmatic transition to lower-carbon systems; it is fundamentally the backbone of industrialisation and economic resilience."
Earlier local content frameworks largely focused on meeting minimum targets for contracts, labour and ownership, he said.
According to him, the time had come to evolve from compliance to performance, where local companies are productive, innovative and globally competitive.
"This session challenges us to move beyond compliance toward performance-driven local content that deliberately builds industrial strength and long-term competitiveness," Ekpo added.
He explained that building such capacity would require investments in engineering, project execution, gas processing, pipeline construction, fabrication, LNG services, operations and maintenance, as well as downstream gas-based industries such as fertiliser, petrochemicals, methanol and compressed natural gas for transportation.
Mrs. Patience Oyekunle, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, maintained that energy must be viewed not merely as a commodity for export earnings but as a catalyst for stability, inclusive development and national security.
"Energy is not merely a commodity; it is a catalyst for stability, industrialisation, and inclusive growth," she said, urging stakeholders to deliberately shape Africa's energy future around capability and competitiveness.
Acknowledging that the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act of 2010, implemented through the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, had helped reduce import dependence and expand indigenous participation, she however warned that compliance alone was no longer sufficient.
"The central question before us today is: How do we evolve from compliance-driven local content to performance-driven local content that builds enduring industrial powerhouses, nationally and continentally," she asked.
She outlined key priorities for achieving this shift, including strengthening human capital, upgrading technical and managerial skills, accelerating technology transfer and expanding domestic manufacturing and service capacity.
According to her, genuine local content should be measured not by percentages on paper but by the depth of local expertise, the strength of supply chains and the quality of sustainable jobs created.
She emphasized the need for structured apprenticeship programmes, competency certification and stronger collaboration between industry, research institutions and training centres to ensure Nigeria develops the workforce required for a modern, technology-driven energy sector.
She also highlighted the import of retaining more value in-country through fabrication, engineering services, logistics, petrochemicals and emerging transition sectors, describing ownership of value chains as critical to long-term resilience.
....Lokpobiri explains hike in oil and gas project costs
The Minister of State for Petroleum (oil), Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, has stated that the misapplication of the Local Content Act as the major reason for high cost of services in the oil and gas sector.
Speaking during the Pre-Conference Opening of the Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES) yesterday in Abuja, Lokpobiri lamented the domination of foreign companies in the services aspect of the sector.
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While stating that local content is fundamental to Africa's achievement of Nigeria's energy growth, Lokpobiri said efforts need to be made to make the cost of projects cheaper to attract investors.
"I can't see the reason why a country that is physically at home will have lower project costs than Nigeria. And we had to tackle that problem. And we found out that the problem was misapplication of the local content. Our country is big enough for both foreign companies and the local companies to cooperate. Do you agree with me that the local companies today cannot do any work in offshore exploration? That still remains within the exclusive capacity of these companies. Most of the time when I engage members of these companies, they will tell me their approach and concept is higher because they seem to be a monopoly."
"Monopoly in the sense that, perhaps not a siphon, maybe whatever price they give to you, you have to take because there is no competition."
