The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Dr Ogbonnaya Orji, has said that Nigeria needs $20 billion annually for 10 years as investment in gas infrastructure.
Orji made this assertion during his presentation of the latest NEITI oil and gas industry report to the Senate Committee on Public Accounts.
Nigeria has the largest gas reserves in Africa and is among the top 10 countries in the world with the largest gas reserves.
However, a large share of these reserves are untapped due to a lack of adequate investment in infrastructure.
The NEITI CEO told senators on the committee that unless investment in gas infrastructure is improved and consistent, the enormous reserves will remain untapped.
“We need to invest in gas infrastructure to evacuate our gas. Our study shows that Nigeria needs an initial investment of $20 billion annually for 10 years to be able to generate the kind of gas infrastructure required,” he said.
He disclosed that Nigeria earned $831.41 billion from the oil and gas sector in 25 years(1999-2023). He added that revenue generated from the sector declined by 13.7% in 2023.
Committee expresses concern over poor performance of solid minerals
The Chairman of the Senate Public Accounts Committee, Sen. Aliyu Wadada lamented the poor performance of the Solid minerals sector noting that the sector contributes less than one percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
He sought an explanation from the NEITI CEO, describing the performance of the Solid Minerals sector as “ridiculous”.
“This is quite ridiculous and unacceptable. It can not continue. Nigeria needs a profitable solid minerals sector. There must be a complete overhaul of the sector as less than 1% is contributed to the GDP on a yearly basis,” he said.
In his response, Dr. Orji said there was a need for a review of the Solid Minerals Act, 2007 with emphasis on establishing a dynamic physical regime for the sector and possibly a National Company to drive investment efforts in the sector.
Decline in crude oil losses
Reading the report further, Dr Orji noted that crude oil losses dropped by 78%, from 36.6 million barrels in 2022 to 7.68 million barrels in 2023.
“This progress reflects improved efforts to combat oil theft by strong government interventions,” he noted.
What you should know
- The current administration has improved investment in gas infrastructure for power generation, mobility, and domestic utilisation.
- The government recently launched the construction of five gas plants in Ajaokuta, Kogi state; and it has improved investment in compressed natural gas for vehicles.
- However, experts say there is still a huge deficit in gas infrastructure in the country.
