WorldStage– The Federal Government of Nigeria has revealed that the national metering rate has risen to about 57 per cent, with hundreds of thousands of new meters deployed while the country experienced rise in gas output, as local petrol production hits 48m ltrs per day.
Mrs. Olu Verheijen, Special Adviser to the President on Oil and Gas who disclosed this at the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce Energy Day 2026 said the increase was achieved through two distinct programmes – the Presidential Metering Initiative and a World Bank-supported programme.
She also disclosed that the two programmes are set to deploy several million additional meters in the years ahead.
“Metering protects consumers, reduces estimated billing, and builds the commercial discipline investment requires,” she said.
Verheijen said the federal government is equally implementing electricity tariff reform pragmatically.
She disclosed that about 45 per cent of the market is now on cost-reflective tariffs linked to service quality.
According to her, the subsidised segment is redesigned to better protect vulnerable households, already reducing the projected subsidy burden by over a trillion naira.
Speaking on the theme of the event, “Energy in Nigeria: From Potential to Reality”, Verheijen said Nigeria has never lacked energy potential.
“We have oil, we have gas and we have sunlight, water, land, talent and skills
“What we have lacked is conversion – the discipline to turn resources into results-.”
Specifically, she said the country had lacked the discipline to turn its abundant reserves into production and revenue.
She said it had also failed to convert its gas into power and the power into productivity.
Verheijen said what the country had failed to do in decades was what President Bola Tinubu mandated them to do, moving Nigeria’s energy sector from promise to performance.
“Energy is not simply a sector. It is the foundation of national competitiveness.
“When energy works, factories run, farms process, transport gets cheaper, and government can invest in its people.
“When energy fails, every Nigerian pays – in diesel costs, food prices, lost jobs and pressure on the naira. That is why energy reform is economic reform,” she said
Verheijen said following the President’s directive, they embarked on energy reforms which are beyond oil companies, power plants or investors, but touched the common man
“Energy reform is not an elite conversation, it is a national development conversation.
“We are speaking of the price of food, the cost of transport, the survival of small businesses, the strength of the Naira, and jobs for young Nigerians.
“We have done the foundational work.
“The directives were issued, the decisions were taken, the structures were designed and the agreements were negotiated and signed,” she said.
Verheijen urged the new sector leadership to build upon the laid foundation to move from financial stabilisation to service delivery, expanded access, and the reliable power Nigeria’s industrial ambitions require.
According to her, the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce has enormous role to play in that regard.
She said while the UK brings finance, legal structuring, insurance, engineering and institutional capital, Nigeria will bring resources, demand, scale and reform momentum.
“The opportunity is to connect these strengths around bankable projects and to move partnership beyond goodwill into financing structures, skills transfer and measurable outcomes.
“Nigeria is no longer presenting potential alone.
“We are presenting a reform pathway, a project pipeline, and evidence that disciplined execution changes outcomes,” she said.
RISE IN GAS OUTPUT
Verheijen at the forum also confirmed that Nigeria’s gross gas production has risen to 7.63 billion standard cubic feet per day from about 6.83 billion standard cubic feet per day in 2023.
Verheijen also disclosed that the nation’s proven reserves now stand at over 215 trillion cubic feet of gas.
She said the monumental increase was achieved through targeted presidential directives which improved the environment for deep-water, non-associated gas and midstream infrastructure.
The Special Adviser disclosed that over four billion dollars in international oil company divestments were refocused on deep-water and integrated gas.
She said the feat was achieved also because the President Bola Tinubu’s administration successfully addressed the challenge of cost of doing business.
According to her, contracting that once took thirty-six months, currently takes around fourteen while the government is driving toward a target of six.
“The market responded. Nigeria’s share of African upstream Final Investment Decisions rose from about four per cent in the year 2023 to roughly forty pe rcent across 2024 and 2025.
“With the development, about 10 billion dollars was committed with a visible pipeline of some 500 billion dollars ahead.
“Stalled projects are moving again, including Bonga North, Ubeta and HI gas developments and new non-associated gas developments that anchor long-term supply to our LNG exports.
“When Nigeria improves the rules of the game, capital returns to the field,” she said.
Beyond increase in production, the Special Adviser said the administration repositioned gas as foundation for industrialisation.
According to her, the administration does not see gas as merely a transition fuel, but a development fuel, central to power, fertiliser, petrochemicals, clean cooking, CNG transport, LNG exports and manufacturing.
“The goal is not simply to produce more gas, it is to ensure Nigerian gas becomes Nigerian power, Nigerian products, Nigerian jobs and Nigerian exports.
“A nation does not grow wealthy by owning resources, it grows wealthy by converting them into value,” she said
Verheijen said the Tinubu’s administration is restoring financial viability to the gas-to-power chain.
She noted that, for years, the power sector was constrained by accumulated arrears, weak payment discipline and tariff distortions.
She said that the Presidential Power Sector Debt Reduction Programme was built to address the challenges directly .
The Special Adviser recalled that the Federal Executive Council approved bond programme of up to N4 trillion to settle verified generation and gas-company arrears.
“Under it, generation companies have signed full and final settlement agreements worth about N2.28 trillion.
“The N501 billion Series 1 bond was issued and oversubscribed, with payments to generation and gas companies now underway.
“A second series of N729 billion will follow to complete the first phase,” she said.
Verheijen restated that the fund was not a bailout, but a strategic reset that cleared verified arrears, restored liquidity, and gave operators the footing to invest with confidence.
LOCAL PETROL PRODUCTION RISES
Verheijen in her presentation at the event also confirmed that local production of petrol has moved from effectively zero in 2023 to about 48 million litres per day.
She noted that, for the first time in a generation, the majority of the petrol Nigerians consume is now refined at home.
“This is where energy reform meets the strength of the Naira.
“For decades, every cargo of imported petrol was a standing demand for scarce dollars, a structural drain that weakened our currency.
“As local refining has risen, that drain has eased: petrol imports fell from about N2.3 trillion in the first quarter of 2025 to under N90 billion a year later.
“Fewer dollars spent on fuel means less pressure on the Naira. Energy security and currency stability are not separate goals. They are the same goal,” she said.
On crude oil and condensate production the Special Adviser said the country had restored investors confidence.
According to her, crude oil and condensate production averaged 1.64 million barrels per day in 2025.
She said the production was up by roughly 400,000 barrels a day since 2023, and the highest onshore level in two decades.
Verheijen also disclosed that over
four billion dollars in international oil company divestments had been concluded.
She said the divestment had helped to deepen indigenous participation in onshore, while the majors re-focussed on deep-water and integrated gas.
“Pipeline uptime is now consistently high, and illegal refining sharply reduced.
“Every additional barrel matters — for revenue, for jobs, and for the strength of the federation,” she said
Reflecting on what the administration met on ground in 2023, Verheijen said that the sector was under severe strain.
She recalled that subsidies had become fiscally unsustainable while foreign-exchange distortions had weakened investment.
“Production was below potential; Power-sector debt was strangling the gas-to-power chain.
“The country had resources, but the system was not converting them into national value.
“So our first task was to stop the bleeding and rebuild the foundations,” she said.
In addressing the challenges, Verheijen recalled that the President Tinubu’s administration restored fiscal credibility by removing the fuel subsidy and reforming the exchange rate.
According to her, the decisions were hard, but necessary.
“The results are visible. Total federation revenue rose to about N21 trillion in 2024, up from roughly N12 trillion in 2023 – nearly doubling in a single year,” she said.
She noted that inspite of the deregulation, government has prevented the chronic nationwide petrol queues that once defined scarcity
