Nigeria Runs Out of Gas

Crisis: Delays Frustrate Move Towards Natural Gas-Fuelled Cars

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Motorists in Nigerian cities are spending hours, or even days, queuing for natural gas to power their cars after the government promoted its use as an alternative fuel.

Some are so frustrated they say they regret the decision to convert their vehicle engines to use compressed natural gas (CNG) instead of petrol or diesel.

Murtala Ishola, who is in his early 60s, said he was used to queuing for hours to fill up his gas tank, but recently it had become a days-long wait.

"I have been here for the fifth day," he said outside a filling station in the capital Abuja.

Nigeria is promoting CNG as a solution to alleviate perennial fuel shortages and the five-fold price hike that followed the abolition of petroleum fuel subsidies by President Bola Tinubu in May 2023.

The oil-rich country has long been one of Africa's top exporters of crude but struggles to provide refined fuel to domestic users.