Shell Nigeria Gas Advocates Industrial Clusters, Virtual Pipelines to Unlock Africa’s Gas Potential
By Ndubuisi Micheal Obineme
Ralph Gbobo, Managing Director, Shell Nigeria Gas, has called for stronger collaboration between government and the private sector to unlock Africa’s gas potential, stressing the need for industrial clusters, targeted investment incentives and innovative gas transportation solutions.
Speaking at the 2026 AOW Energy Conference, Gbobo said the development of industrial clusters that bring factories and manufacturers together in strategic locations would help create sufficient demand to make gas infrastructure investments more commercially viable.
“We need to start having industrial clusters, bringing factories and manufacturers to one location to have enough demand to make that investment more viable,” Gbobo said.
Government Must Be Bold on Gas Infrastructure
Gbobo also urged the government to take bold steps to expand gas infrastructure and connect emerging demand centres to available gas resources.
He pointed to the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS) as an example of the type of strategic infrastructure required to move gas to areas where it can support industrial and economic activity.
He stressed that similar initiatives should be considered to ensure that businesses and industries across other parts of the country, particularly the western region, can access reliable and affordable gas supplies.
Virtual Pipelines Can Bridge the Infrastructure Gap
In the short to medium-term, Gbobo advocated the development of virtual gas pipelines as a practical solution to infrastructure constraints.
He explained that gas could be compressed close to production facilities and transported by road or other suitable means to areas where demand already exists, allowing industries to transition progressively from liquid fuels to natural gas.
“You’re sticking a compressing facility there next to the gas field, compress the gas, and then transport it to where the demand centres are,” he explained.
According to Gbobo, this approach would help establish gas-consuming ecosystems around emerging demand centres.
“When you do that, you move people gradually away from liquid fuel to gas, and they start building that ecosystem that will make, in the future, the investment to lay the line to that place more viable.”
He noted that virtual pipelines could therefore serve as a bridge between available gas resources and locations that are not yet connected to the national pipeline network, while simultaneously helping to build the demand required to support future conventional pipeline investments.
Targeted Incentives Needed to Attract Investment
Speaking further, he called for more targeted government incentives to stimulate investment across the gas value chain, noting that the scale of infrastructure required cannot be delivered by private entities alone.
“There should be more targeted incentives to increase investments,” he said, emphasizing the importance of stronger public-private collaboration in developing Nigeria’s gas infrastructure.
Stranded Gas Represents Stranded Economic Value
He also highlighted the broader economic consequences of leaving gas resources undeveloped or stranded.
He explained that the impact goes beyond the gas itself, as every economic benefit that could have been generated from those resources is also lost when gas remains stranded.
“The economic impact of having stranded gas to any nation is not just that the gas is stranded; it also means that value is also stranded.”
According to him, the lost value extends across multiple areas of the economy, including government revenue, employment, industrial development and the growth of existing businesses and industries that could benefit from reliable gas supplies.
With Nigeria seeking to deepen gas utilisation and reduce dependence on liquid fuels, the development of industrial clusters and virtual pipelines could provide practical pathways for connecting gas resources with industries while creating the demand base needed to support larger infrastructure investments in the future.
