Gas reserves in Nigeria

Nigeria: Gas reserves was 5.76 trillion cubic meters in 2021. ▲ Rising

Latest (2021)
5.76 trillion cubic meters
Change on year
up 1.5%
World rank
10th
of 215 countries
All-time high
5.76 trillion cubic meters
in 2021
All-time low
917.47 billion cubic meters
in 1983
Years of data
42
1980–2021

Gas reserves in Nigeria, 1980–2021

1.0T2.0T3.0T4.0T5.0T6.0T1980200020211980: 1.2T cubic meters1981: 1.2T cubic meters1982: 1.1T cubic meters1983: 917.5B cubic meters1984: 985.4B cubic meters1985: 1.0T cubic meters1986: 1.3T cubic meters1987: 1.3T cubic meters1988: 2.4T cubic meters1989: 2.4T cubic meters1990: 2.5T cubic meters1991: 2.5T cubic meters1992: 3.0T cubic meters1993: 3.4T cubic meters1994: 3.4T cubic meters1995: 3.4T cubic meters1996: 3.1T cubic meters1997: 3.0T cubic meters1998: 3.3T cubic meters1999: 3.5T cubic meters2000: 3.5T cubic meters2001: 3.5T cubic meters2002: 3.5T cubic meters2003: 3.5T cubic meters2004: 4.5T cubic meters2005: 5.0T cubic meters2006: 5.2T cubic meters2007: 5.2T cubic meters2008: 5.2T cubic meters2009: 5.2T cubic meters2010: 5.2T cubic meters2011: 5.3T cubic meters2012: 5.1T cubic meters2013: 5.2T cubic meters2014: 5.1T cubic meters2015: 5.1T cubic meters2016: 5.1T cubic meters2017: 5.3T cubic meters2018: 5.5T cubic meters2019: 5.6T cubic meters2020: 5.7T cubic meters2021: 5.8T cubic meters

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (2022) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in cubic meters.

Analysis

In 2021, gas reserves in Nigeria stood at 5.76 trillion cubic meters. That is the highest value across all 42 years on record.

The figure is up 1.5% on the previous year and up 8.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, gas reserves in Nigeria peaked at 5.76 trillion cubic meters in 2021 and was at its lowest, 917.47 billion cubic meters, in 1983.

That places Nigeria 10th out of 215 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 42 years of available data.

Gas reserves in Nigeria, year by year

Annual values for Gas reserves in Nigeria, 1980 to 2021.
Year cubic meters Change
1980 1.17 trillion cubic meters —
1981 1.16 trillion cubic meters -1.0%
1982 1.15 trillion cubic meters -1.2%
1983 917.47 billion cubic meters -20.0%
1984 985.43 billion cubic meters +7.4%
1985 1.01 trillion cubic meters +2.3%
1986 1.33 trillion cubic meters +32.0%
1987 1.33 trillion cubic meters +0.0%
1988 2.38 trillion cubic meters +78.7%
1989 2.41 trillion cubic meters +1.2%
1990 2.47 trillion cubic meters +2.8%
1991 2.47 trillion cubic meters +0.0%
1992 2.97 trillion cubic meters +19.8%
1993 3.40 trillion cubic meters +14.6%
1994 3.40 trillion cubic meters +0.0%
1995 3.40 trillion cubic meters +0.0%
1996 3.11 trillion cubic meters -8.6%
1997 2.97 trillion cubic meters -4.6%
1998 3.25 trillion cubic meters +9.7%
1999 3.51 trillion cubic meters +8.0%
2000 3.51 trillion cubic meters +0.0%
2001 3.51 trillion cubic meters +0.0%
2002 3.51 trillion cubic meters +0.0%
2003 3.51 trillion cubic meters +0.0%
2004 4.50 trillion cubic meters +28.2%
2005 4.98 trillion cubic meters +10.7%
2006 5.23 trillion cubic meters +4.9%
2007 5.15 trillion cubic meters -1.5%
2008 5.21 trillion cubic meters +1.1%
2009 5.21 trillion cubic meters +0.1%
2010 5.25 trillion cubic meters +0.6%
2011 5.29 trillion cubic meters +0.9%
2012 5.11 trillion cubic meters -3.4%
2013 5.15 trillion cubic meters +0.9%
2014 5.12 trillion cubic meters -0.7%
2015 5.11 trillion cubic meters -0.1%
2016 5.11 trillion cubic meters +0.0%
2017 5.28 trillion cubic meters +3.4%
2018 5.48 trillion cubic meters +3.6%
2019 5.63 trillion cubic meters +2.8%
2020 5.67 trillion cubic meters +0.9%
2021 5.76 trillion cubic meters +1.5%

Biggest year-on-year movements

Years where Gas reserves in Nigeria changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.

YearChange FromTo
1988 +78.7% 1.33 trillion cubic meters 2.38 trillion cubic meters
1986 +32.0% 1.01 trillion cubic meters 1.33 trillion cubic meters
2004 +28.2% 3.51 trillion cubic meters 4.50 trillion cubic meters

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 1.38 trillion cubic meters 917.47 billion cubic meters 2.41 trillion cubic meters 10
1990s 3.09 trillion cubic meters 2.47 trillion cubic meters 3.51 trillion cubic meters 10
2000s 4.43 trillion cubic meters 3.51 trillion cubic meters 5.23 trillion cubic meters 10
2010s 5.25 trillion cubic meters 5.11 trillion cubic meters 5.63 trillion cubic meters 10
2020s 5.72 trillion cubic meters 5.67 trillion cubic meters 5.76 trillion cubic meters 2

Countries ranked near Nigeria

  1. 7 Saudi Arabia 9.42 trillion cubic meters compare
  2. 8 China 6.65 trillion cubic meters compare
  3. 9 United Arab Emirates 6.09 trillion cubic meters compare
  4. 11 Venezuela 5.67 trillion cubic meters compare
  5. 12 Algeria 4.50 trillion cubic meters compare
  6. 13 Iraq 3.73 trillion cubic meters compare

See the full ranking of 215 places →

More energy & mining data for Nigeria

All data for Nigeria →

Frequently asked questions

What is gas reserves in Nigeria?
Gas reserves in Nigeria was 5.76 trillion cubic meters in 2021, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration (2022) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest gas reserves recorded in Nigeria?
The highest recorded value was 5.76 trillion cubic meters in 2021.
What is the lowest gas reserves recorded in Nigeria?
The lowest recorded value was 917.47 billion cubic meters in 1983.
How does Nigeria rank for gas reserves?
Nigeria ranks 10th out of 215 countries with data for 2021.
Is gas reserves rising or falling in Nigeria?
Over the last ten years it is up 8.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Nigeria data come from?
The figures come from U.S. Energy Information Administration (2022) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Gas reserves. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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CSV · JSON — 42 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

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Gas reserves in Nigeria. Statizoid, drawing on U.S. Energy Information Administration (2022) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 27 September 2026, from https://energy.statizoid.com/stat/natural-gas-proved-reserves/nigeria/

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About this data

Indicator
Gas reserves
Unit
cubic meters
Source
U.S. Energy Information Administration (2022) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
215 places, 8,321 data points, 1980–2021
Last refreshed

Proved reserves, measured in cubic meters, are generally those quantities that can be recovered in the future from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions, according to geological and engineering information.