A delegation from Egypt’s Natural Gas Vehicles Company, Cargas, has visited Nigeria to explore opportunities for expanding compressed natural gas (CNG) utilisation across the country — bringing with it three decades of operational experience in one of Africa’s most advanced gas vehicle markets and a mandate to help Nigeria accelerate its presidential CNG initiative.
The visit was made in line with directives from Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Karim Badawi, to strengthen regional cooperation and open new markets for Egyptian petroleum sector companies across Africa. In Abuja, the Cargas delegation was received by Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, alongside Egypt’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Mohamed Fouad.
Ekpo welcomed the visit, noting that achieving the ambitious targets of Nigeria’s presidential CNG initiative requires robust partnerships and the exchange of technical know-how. He praised Egypt’s sustained success in converting vehicles to natural gas and valued Cargas’s readiness to support Nigeria through essential technology transfers.
The delegation held a series of meetings with key Nigerian regulatory and industry bodies, including 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). Discussions produced initial plans covering retail station infrastructure, CNG conversion centres, local component manufacturing, and training programmes to embed natural gas technology across Nigeria’s transport networks.
Founded in 1995 as Egypt’s first dedicated CNG automotive company, Cargas held a 41 per cent share of Egypt’s gas vehicle market in 2025, backed by a nationwide network of 56 conversion and maintenance centres — a scale of operation that Nigerian officials hope to replicate.
Source: egyptoil-gas.com