KEY POINTS
- NMDPRA launches Nigeria’s first digital platform for wholesale gas trading, clearing and settlement.
- Regulator says the system will improve pricing transparency, widen participation and support investment.
- Jex Markets receives the inaugural Gas Trading Licence as Nigeria seeks to evolve into a regional gas-trading hub.
Nigeria’s midstream and downstream regulator, NMDPRA, has placed itself at the centre of a major shift in the country’s gas sector, unveiling the first online platform designed to trade, clear and settle wholesale gas transactions.
The NMDPRA said the move marks a decisive step towards creating a transparent, rules-driven marketplace that can anchor investment and help shape Nigeria into a regional hub for gas commerce.
The NMDPRA granted a Gas Trading Licence, along with Clearing House and Settlement Authorisation, to Jex Markets Limited at a ceremony in Abuja. For the NMDPRA, the launch signals the beginning of a more organised domestic gas economy, one guided by market discipline rather than opaque bilateral dealings.
Regulator Says Platform Will Drive Transparency, Price Discovery and Investor Confidence
NMDPRA chief executive Farouk Ahmed said the digital marketplace is the product of years of regulatory groundwork under the Petroleum Industry Act. He said the platform is intended to bring clarity to pricing, widen participation and give investors a clearer line of sight into how gas moves through the system.
Ahmed described the development as a practical demonstration of the authority’s mandate to build a modern, competitive midstream and downstream environment. While noting that the achievement followed close collaboration between regulators and industry players, he stressed that the true measure of success will lie in whether the platform can deepen liquidity, stabilise pricing and attract long-term capital.
He urged producers, shippers and major off-takers to migrate their transactions onto the platform, arguing that it offers not just compliance benefits but a pathway to unlock new efficiencies. Reliable price discovery, he said, will help the sector shed long-standing uncertainties and give financiers more confidence to develop gas infrastructure.
The Securities and Exchange Commission also weighed in, with Director-General Emomotimi Agama calling on banks, insurers and asset managers to design products that can mobilise capital for the gas value chain. He said the financial sector’s involvement will be essential if Nigeria is to convert its gas endowment into measurable economic gains.
At the event, the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) chairman, Ikeagwuonu Ugochinyere, said Parliament would provide oversight while ensuring that regulatory clarity and technological adoption remain embedded in the sector.
Ahmed concluded that the platform is only the starting point, and that the authority will maintain strict supervision to ensure compliance, efficiency and trust as the market grows.
