Uquo gas facility and impact on Nigeria’s economy

President Goodluck Jonathan in company of Diezani Alison-Madueke, minister of petroleum resources; Chinedu Nebo, minister of power, among others commissioned the Uquo gas processing facility last week,  apparently underlining Nigeria’s gas-to-power quest and the importance of power generation to economic development.

The gas processing facility located in Esit Ekit, Akwa Ibom State is capable of generating 1,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity, more than a quarter of the country’s current generation capacity. The facility can produce over 200 million cubic feet of gas per day.

The N90billion facility is a joint venture project between two indigenous Nigerian independent oil and gas companies Seven Energy International Limited and Frontier Oil Limited. 

 Philip Ihenacho, chief executive officer of Seven Energy, the JV partner that provided the technical services and 100 percent of the funding for the gas facility, said the project is a reflection of the company’s unique focus on the emerging Nigerian domestic gas market, adding that Nigeria has immense gas potential which remains untapped both for power generation and industrial use.

First commercial gas deliveries from the facility commenced in early 2014 to the 190 MW Ibom Power station. The facility is expected to start supplying 131 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscfd) of gas to the 560MW Calabar NIPP power station in the fourth quarter of the year. 

  Dada Thomas, chief executive officer of Frontier Oil Limited, the operators of the Uquo Joint Venture, said: “With an added 1,000 megawatts of electricity to our national grid, our production capabilities are bound to expand, increasing the size and breath of our economy.” 

“This means that the hairdresser can do her hairdressing, the welder can do his welding, and the factory can carry on production. It means that the people in the office can function because their computers will have power and all those things have an impact on the ability of each individual to produce optimally”, Thomas added. 

Clearly, if more projects like the Uquo gas facility come on stream in the next few years, they will have significant impact on Nigeria’s aspiration for sustainable power supply. 

FEMI ASU