The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited said it will use Nigeria’s natural gas to alleviate energy poverty.
Bala Wunti, the Chief Upstream Investment Officer at the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS) stated this during the ongoing CERAWeek conference held in Houston, United States of America.
Speaking during a panel session titled; “National oil companies in the changing world”, Wunti said that using Nigeria’s natural gas resources, NNPCL is strategically positioned to provide clean, affordable, and reliable energy to alleviate energy poverty and guarantee national energy security.
According to him, NNPCL which recently transitioned from a government corporation into a private company will leverage the quality of its resources, geographic advantage, and years of industry experience to move domestically from energy deficiency to sufficiency and support the global push for sustainable energy.
Natural gas for energy security: Nigeria has proven gas reserves of over 206 trillion cubic feet (tcf) and prospects of an additional 600 tcf, So, natural gas presents an opportunity for the country to use gas as a catalyst for its socioeconomic development. The Buhari administration has over the years pushed for the use of gas to achieve energy security.
Although there have been some delays in the implementation of its National Gas Expansion Program (NGEP), the government has resumed its activities for the implementation of the NGEP. The NUPRC Chief Executive Officer, Gbenga Komolafe has also promised that the NUPRC will provide all necessary support for NGEP within the provisions of the PIA 2021 to enable it to achieve its mandate.
The journey so far: The NGEP was designed to enable Nigeria to become a natural gas-reliant country that uses the commodity for cooking (liquefied petroleum gas), transportation (compressed natural gas), and industrialisation (liquefied natural gas). The NNPCL and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) are partnering to enable several gas projects across the country as a part of the goals of the NGEP. Some of these projects include;
Establishment of an 80 million standard cubic feet per day gas processing plant and a 300 million standard cubic feet per day gas gathering hub in Delta state in partnership with Nedogas processing company
A partnership with Rungas to produce 1.2 million LPG Composite cylinders per year in Bayelsa and Lagos States.
The establishment of a 10,000 tonnes per day methanol production plant at Odioama, Brass, Bayelsa State.
What you should know: During the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Doha, Qatar, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari met with the Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), Mohammed Hamel.
Both men met to discuss the possibility of enhancing gas cooperation, international gas and LNG markets, Nigeria’s gas market potential, growing domestic gas demand, collaboration in gas modelling/outlook, gas research/innovation, and perspectives on the gas as well as energy market dynamics.
