Egypt’s Natural Gas Vehicles Company (Cargas) has indicated interest in exploring expansion opportunities into the Nigerian energy market with a national initiative aimed at expanding Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) utilisation and transferring the company’s expertise and pioneering experience in the sector.
Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources announced the plan after a team from Cargas visited Nigeria.
The visit followed the directives of the country’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, to strengthen regional and international cooperation and to open new horizons for Egyptian petroleum sector companies in the African markets.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo received the team comprising Egypt’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Mohamed Fouad, who came to formulate mechanisms for enhancing bilateral cooperation in natural gas applications, focusing heavily on CNG deployment in the transportation sector.
Ekpo noted that achieving the ambitious milestones of Nigeria’s presidential initiative to expand CNG utilisation required building robust partnerships and exchanging technical and operational know-how.
The minister praised Egypt’s sustained success in converting vehicles to run on natural gas and valued the readiness of the Egyptian government and Cargas to support the Nigerian market through essential technology transfers, according to the statement.
In line with these strategic objectives, the Cargas delegation held a series of intensive meetings with multiple regulatory bodies and institutions supervising Nigeria’s energy and transportation sectors.
These include the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
The sessions produced initial plans for retail station infrastructure, CNG conversion centers, local component manufacturing, and training programs to support natural gas integration across transport networks.
