Decade of Gas: NGA tasks government to focus on targets
Sopuruchi Onwuka
Federal government’s Decade of Gas programme must accelerate activities that would deliver the full objectives of the agenda within the specified period of 10myears in order to be successful.
And the only way to realize the full national economic aspirations for the programme is for government to lay credible business case for investments in an environment that facilitates operations and guarantees returns from the market.
President of the Nigerian Gas Association (NGA), Mr Ed Ubong, who chaired a panel discussion on “Harnessing Domestic Gas Market to meet Future Energy Demand” at the Practical Nigerian Content Forum 2022, pointed out that critical issues in the industry must be addressed to pave way for capital inflow for realizing set policy objectives in the gas sector.
The Oracle Today reports that the annual PNC Forum is hosted by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to provide credible platform for policy debates on how to optimise domestic capacity and resources in driving and achieving key economic aspirations in the petroleum industry.
Following the government’s Decade of Gas programme, the NCDMB anchored the PNC 2022 on “Deepening Nigerian Content Opportunities in the Decade of Gas.”
In introducing the subject for debate, Mr Ubong told the conference delegates that the critical targets for the Decade of Gas programme are still within long range, warning that the objectives might not be met if urgent measures are not deployed in enhancing the operating environment.
He pointed at the major target of bringing the nation’s stranded power generation capacity optimum by creating robust channels for delivery of electricity for waiting market.
With total installed generation capacity of 12 gigawatts of electric power, Mr Ubong observed, key short term target would be to increase grid power supply from current insufficient 4.0 gigawatts of electricity to 8.0 gigawatts and 12 gigawatts (GW) in the medium term.
The next phase of leap in the gas-to-power programme, he said, would be to drive an significant jump from 12 GW to 50 GW by 2027 when the Decade of Gas is supposed to round off.
The NGA chief said the other target of clearing all legacy debts in the power sector and enhancing liquidity in the system within three years is far from being met under the prevailing pace of activities.
Other critical economic aspirations for the petroleum industry under the Decade of Gas programme, he noted, include acceleration of domestic gas supply from current 1.0 million tonnes to some 20 million tonnes; and creation of gas based industrial hubs in at least 18nstates of the federation as part of the credible measures to expand domestic gas consumption appetite.
Next target, according to him, is to create a sustainable training programme to groom and produce 1000 gas specific professionals in the decade to help address critical human resource requirements in building a resilient domestic gas market.
In developing the domestic gas market as basis for commercial investments in production and supply, Mr Ubong stressed the need for pan industry collaboration among government agencies and players to lay solid grounds for a commercial environment for unbridled transactions between willing parties.
He also pointed at the urgent need for government to resolve the crippling foreign exchange crunch in the country within the Decade of Gas in order to ease transnational transactions and preserve the integrity of the Naira at the exchange market.
He made it clear that that the market development initiative that would precede investments in domestic supply would not happen without firt meeting the identified targets in supply infrestrucre development.
He pointed at the need to accelerate completion and activation of the ongoing OB3 and AKK pipeline projects and the extension of the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) to another to West African countries to expand the regional market size.
Besides the pipelines, Mr Ubong noted that the primary targets also include development of virtual pipeline supply options including the compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to take some 20 percent or 300 million standard cubic feet (MMscf) of gas per day in the domestic market.
The export end of the targets, he noted, would involve greater investments in development and expansion of more floating LNG (FLNG) and LNG facilities in the full value chain.
In sum, Mr Ubong called for investor friendly environment that would encourage investments in supply while progressively moving the market from price regulated environment to willing seller-willing buyer setting in the Decade of Gas.
