Nigeria needs to invest more in building the expertise of regulators in gas metering as the country expands its gas infrastructure, an energy expert, Dr Sunday Kanshio, has said.
Kanshio, who is the Managing Partner of Fleissen Events and Coordinator of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Nigeria Hydrocarbon Measurement Conference (NiHMEC), said stronger technical capacity among regulators was critical to ensuring accurate measurement and accounting of the country’s growing gas resources.
He spoke on Thursday in Abuja at a press briefing ahead of the sixth edition of NiHMEC, scheduled to hold from October 4 to 8 at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
He said gas metering was critical to the development of Nigeria’s gas industry and would become even more important as new infrastructure comes on stream.
He cited projects such as the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline and the completed Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) gas pipeline, saying accurate measurement would be required at every point where gas was taken from the network.
Kanshio said the need for accurate measurement was also important for national revenue, as the country was increasingly relying on oil and gas production.
He said measurement was required at different stages, from production at the wellhead to flow stations, pipelines, custody transfer points and export terminals.
According to him, accurate measurement also helps operators optimise production and determine the quantities of oil and gas allocated for fiscal purposes, including royalties and taxes.
Kanshio also called for constant audits of gas measurement systems to ensure they perform according to required standards.
He said regular audits were necessary to determine whether gas measurement systems were operating as designed and producing accurate results.
He said the government should consider funding such audits independently rather than making companies bear the cost, to ensure the process remains effective.
“Constant audit of gas systems is important to know that the gas system is doing well. The only way we can know the performance of measurement systems is through constant audit,” he said.
Kanshio explained that an audit involved comparing a measurement system against the standards and specifications under which it was designed to operate.
“That will show the accuracy of the measurement. Gas metering is critical and foundational for our national development going forward,” he said.
The 2026 NiHMEC is themed “Strengthening Hydrocarbon Measurement and Accounting for Operational and Revenue Resilience.”
The annual conference brings together regulators, producers, pipeline and terminal operators, fiscal institutions and measurement technology providers to discuss challenges and best practices in hydrocarbon measurement and accounting.
SOURCE: dailytrust.com