Gom Mirian
Nigeria is in dire need of an annual investment of $20 billion to effectively accomplish its long-awaited gas expansion plan, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has said.
The initiative, announced by the NEITI Executive Secretary, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, aims to fill the obvious gaps in the country’s gas infrastructure, ultimately strengthening Nigeria’s energy sector. He noted that given the declining investment landscape for fossil fuels, clarity was needed regarding the infrastructure that should be prioritized.
Mr. Orji said Nigeria had the largest gas reserves in Africa and the ninth largest globally with gas reserves of over 200 trillion cubic feet (TCF).
“The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) provides the most significant progress for the gas sector in strengthening governance and providing fiscal frameworks for the sector’s growth. The gas utilisation plan should show the market-driven opportunities that would successfully translate the gas plans into sustainable economic development.
“For the gas utilisation policy to work, there is a compelling need for deliberate ambitious investment in its infrastructure. This includes specific connectivity across upstream facilities to processing, power plants and other end uses. The network code provides a framework through third-party access to resolve some of the connectivity issues but to a large extent, achieving the desired gas expansion will require an estimated $20 billion annually,” he said.
He added that a new concept analysis would be required to demonstrate the new approaches the government intends to embrace to deliver on the gas infrastructure.
Also, the Director, of Gas, Ministry of Petroleum Resource, Mrs Oluremi Komolafe, explained that the NGEP was making way toward its realisation, and while Compressed Natural Gas engines conversion was ongoing, noting that production would be spurred to meet demand.
