Ogona Anita
According to statements from Nigerian government officials, Imo State in southeastern Nigeria holds over 200 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of proven natural gas reserves.
This figure was disclosed in April 2021 by Timipre Sylva, then Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, during a national gas expansion program event in Owerri, the state capital. Sylva described Imo as hosting a “substantial quantity” of the country’s gas resources, emphasizing its potential to drive economic growth through gas utilization.
For context, Nigeria’s total proven natural gas reserves are approximately 210 TCF (as of early 2025, per the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission), making Imo’s deposits a significant portion—potentially the largest among individual states, though official state-by-state breakdowns are not publicly detailed by the federal government.
Additionally, Imo State has an estimated additional potential (unproven or prospective) of 600 TCF, which could elevate its overall gas resource base if further exploration confirms viability. These reserves are primarily located in onshore and shallow offshore fields within the Niger Delta extension, including areas like Assa and the Orashi River basin.
However, much of this gas remains underdeveloped due to infrastructure challenges, security issues, and limited investment, with ongoing projects like the ANOH gas plant (aimed at processing up to 300 million standard cubic feet per day) representing steps toward monetization.
It’s worth noting that while Imo is a major gas-bearing state, claims of it holding the “largest reserves in West Africa” (as sometimes stated by state officials) are unsubstantiated, as Nigeria as a whole dominates the region’s reserves, and no verified data isolates Imo above the national total.
Exploration in the nearby Anambra Basin (spanning Imo and adjacent states) has also identified over 10 TCF of proven reserves across multiple licenses, further bolstering the southeast’s overall potential.
