Stakeholders in gas sector identify gaps between gas to industrialisation
The Nigerian Gas Association has said there is still a huge amount of work to be done in the gas sector towards actualising government’s aspirations in respect of economic development and industrialisation.
The association in a communiqué issued after its conference in Abuja and signed by its president, AUDREY JOE-EZIGBO, urged the federal government to maintain a concerted push towards monetisation of Nigeria’s gas resources, noting that natural gas is a key ingredient for the success of the government’s identified ERGP key priority areas of:
1. Achieving Agriculture and Food Security – Natural Gas resource abundance supports increase in fertilizer production
2. Attaining Energy Sufficiency in Power and Petroleum Products – Natural Gas fueled power generation remains the lowest cost option for immediate and massive increase in national grid power generation as well as increased LPG production
3. Improving Transportation Infrastructure – Natural Gas vehicles will enable in the first instance mass transit and large fleet operations
4. Drive Industrialisation by focusing on SMEs – Natural Gas will provide the fuel and energy required for local manufacturing including Petrochemicals to grow, providing the necessary Natural Gas the communiqué stated has the capacity to propel industrialisation, adding that gas exports are used for the development of other economies.
Nigeria they said should therefore aim at balancing domestic and export needs with domestic gas consumption embracing gas-to-power, gas-based industries such as fertilizer, methanol and other petrochemical plants, transportation and other sectors.
Maximizing capacity utilization of existing gas infrastructure is of as much importance, as the push for new gas infrastructure development. They stated further that there should be extensive due diligence by project developers in planning and execution of projects, as well as concerted efforts to enhance execution capabilities of contractors.
The NGA however lends its support to the NNPC 7 critical gas projects and therefore calls the on government to support these projects, including the expansion of the NLNG Trains, the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Pipeline Project, the Brass Fertilizer Project and other similar projects that are imperative to the realisation of Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) priorities.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, stated that infrastructure development is key stating that plans to launch the Gas Infrastructure Rebirth which will open up tariffs and create policy positions that enable investment by the private sector in critical gas infrastructure, to progress the nation’s national aspirations for gas-based industrialization.
He reiterated the relevance of Natural Gas in economic development and industrialisation and noted that there is still a huge amount of work to be done in the gas sector towards actualising the government’s aspirations.
Olusola Bello