31st May, 2019
The Federal Government on Thursday advised South African Government to invest in the Nigeria’s gas sector, which it said is currently worth $50 billion (N18 trillion) with a lot of opportunities.
Giving the advice at the Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce meeting, Director, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr Ladan Modecai, said “his action was ignited by the conviction that there was prospect for gas in Nigeria beyond its shores ’’.
He noted that such investment prospects abound in the development of upstream gas fields with a total of 37.4 trillion cubic feet, Trans-Nigeria gas pipeline project.
Also in gas revolution industrial park at Ogidigben FTZ, three power plants for additional 3.2GW capacity, licensing and establishment of several modular refineries.
Others include collocating a refinery within Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company, rehabilitation/upgrade of the refineries, revamp of liquefied petroleum gas and building of new CNG plants across the country as well as pipeline and storage tank construction.
The DPR boss, represented by the Deputy Manager, Gas Exploration and Production, Mr Joseph Ogunsola, said Nigeria must leverage its gas potential for sustainable development of the country.
“The National Gas Policy, Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme and Gas Network Code are key enablers in charting our path toward optimum Gas Development and Gas-Based Industrialisation.
“Most of the erstwhile constraints are being addressed in a holistic manner through government policies, reforms, and gas monetisation drive.
“Hitherto, absence of robust legislative, physical and commercial structures for gas and mono-product nature of the economy have militated against the achievement of gas utilisation’’, he said.
Modecai called on stakeholders in the nation’s economy to shun blame game over the lingering incidence of gas flaring in the country.
He said that Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme remained the best panacea to stop flaring in Nigeria.
The director, who disclosed that there were over 170 flare locations spread across the Niger Delta, reiterated that achieving zero flares in Nigeria by 2020 would require up to USD 3 billion in investments.