The Nigerian oil and gas market is expected to register a CAGR of more than four and a half percent during the forecast period.The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly hampered the growth of the market, mainly due to global oil and gas demand contraction and global economic slowdown. The outbreak of COVID-19 led to the crude oil price crash in April 2020, leading to a significant reduction in CAPEX spending by oil and gas companies globally. The country’s national oil and gas companies were already struggling with liquidity and cash shortage, and due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the situation has further deteriorated.
 
However, factors such as increasing investments in the upstream sector and the development of large-scale and modular refineries in the country are expected to drive the country's oil and market during the forecast period. Oil and gas production has been hampered in Nigeria in the past few years due to the attack on oil and gas infrastructure by militants. Furthermore, oil theft has been one of the major issues faced by the oil and gas market in Nigeria, which resulted in huge losses to operating companies in the country. Such factors are expected to have a negative impact on the market growth during the forecast period.

The upstream segment in the market is expected to witness significant growth, owing to the increasing offshore exploration and production activities which are mainly driven by the efforts of the government to improve the country's hydrocarbon industry.

Lack of infrastructure, uncertainties in regulations, and security concerns have led Nigeria to underutilize its refining capacities, thereby pushing the country to become a net importer of refined petroleum products. However, Nigeria is on the edge of altering refined products’ supply dynamics in the region with the help of the upcoming Dangote Refinery, and it is expected to become the regional refining hub in the coming years. Once completed, the country is planning to become the refinery hub in Africa. This, in turn, is expected to attract foreign players to tap into the country's downstream market, creating several opportunities in the future.

The increasing investments in natural gas infrastructure, owing to the country’s huge gas reserves and its advantage as a clean fuel, are expected to drive the market during the forecast period.The country plans to become an export hub in Africa by exporting not only to regional countries but also to other Asian countries, like India and China, where the gas demand is anticipated to increase in the coming years.
 

Furthermore, the country has significant domestic demand for gas, mainly from the power sector. The gas-fired power plants in the country are consistently under-utilized due to the lack of an uninterrupted gas supply. The country also has domestic demand from the commercial, residential, and industrial sectors. By building the country-wide gas distribution network, the Nigerian government aims to tap into this potential.
 

Moreover, the country is investing heavily in LNG facilities, gas processing facilities, and gas pipeline projects. The expansion at the Bonny LNG plant is expected to add 35% more LNG capacity to the country. With this, the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited plans to invest seven billion USD in the Train-7 project, which would expand its production capacity making Nigeria the third  largest exporter of gas in the world after Qatar and Australia.