Nigeria needs $30b for gas utilisation – Senate

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Gas Resources, Senator Nkechi Nwaogu, has stated that Nigeria needs $30 billion to put the needed infrastructure in place for gas utilization, even as she lamented that over 1.4 billion cubic feet of was gas being wasted on daily basis.
Nwaogu made the assertion during her welcome address on Monday at the National Conference on Gas Resources, organized by the committee in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and other relevant stakeholders.
According to the chairman, who said Nigeria has a paradoxical situation of occupying the top position in gas reserve and production but last position in gas utilization amongst other naturally endowed countries of the world, such an investment cannot be avoided by Nigeria in view of the fact that the future of her energy is gas.
She said: “The future of Nigeria’s energy is gas with a proven gas reserve of 187 trillion cubic feet and a potential reserve of 600 trillion cubic feet, which makes Nigeria to be the sixth largest producer of liquified petroleum gas in the world and the largest on the African continent but the low utilization of natural gas in the country has made ours to be a paradoxical situation.
“While we occupy the top position in gas reserve and production, we equally occupy the last position in gas utilization, with the current per capital consumption of natural gas in Nigeria at about 1.06kg, ranking her lowest in Africa with only five per cent of her citizens having access to domestic gas.
“The low utilization of natural gas in the country is greatly hinged on the inadequacy of gas transmission and distribution infrastructure, which results to Nigeria flaring about 1.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day, second to Russia in the world in gas flaring.
“Thus, to practically address the ugly tide as recently submitted by development experts, a significant investment of over $30 billion on infrastructure is needed to achieve Nigeria’s target of producing three billion to four billion cubic feet of gas a day by 2015.”
Nwogu added that the aim of the conference, with the theme: “Deepening Domestic Utilization of Natural Gas and Routine Flare Elimination,” was to look at ways of filling the huge gaps between gas production and utilization in the country as well as reducing routine gas flaring.
According to her, since the quantity of natural gas in Nigeria is said to be more than twice the quantity of crude oil with estimated reserve production ratio of about 120 years compared to that of crude oil, which is just 42 years, Nigeria needs to carry out the needed investment in the gas sector for optimum utilization of gas production for the benefit of all.
In his submission, the Senate President, Senator David Mark, urged all stakeholders in the sector to use the current gas revolution for the betterment of the lives of the people and not just limiting it to the natural hydrocarbons and wealth.
According to Mark in an address delivered by the Senate Minority Whip, Senator Abu Ibrahim, the gas revolution, which has come upon the country, is not just about hydrocarbons and wealth but also about human beings as regards the betterment of their lives in various ways.
He said: “Indeed, the gas revolution has come upon us.
“However, I need to stress that the revolution is not just about hydrocarbons and wealth.
“It is also about human beings and the betterment of the lives of people, their communities and the entire society.
“We have to explore the varying opportunities of this revolution and chart a sustainable way forward for the development of our people since the revolution does not only engender the creation of a plethora of new jobs but also serves as a springboard for the rebirth of the non-oil sector in our country, such as manufacturing, agriculture, solid minerals and so on.”
Mark also admonished policy makers to ensure that exploration activities are not detrimental to the social and environmental conditions of the immediate communities where exploration are taking place, hinting that the much delayed Petroleum Industry Bill, before both chambers of the National Assembly, will soon be passed.
“Although we are still saddled with the PIB but it will be passed soon to provide the needed enabling laws for the reformed oil and gas sector that will be to the benefit of all including the host communities,” he said.
However, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, disclosed at the conference that government was already putting massive and robust infrastructure in place for optimal utilization of gas production in Nigeria to redress the initial in adequate capacities.
Alison-Madueke said: “In the last three years, we have begun the most aggressive implementation of a nationwide gas infrastructure blueprint.
“Our vision is to connect via a national grid to key supply sources and to markets across the nation driven by our conviction that a robust infrastructure is the minimum requirement for supply and market growth.”