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By Adewale Sanyaolu
The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to ensure that the regulatory and fiscal incentives contained in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) were seamlessly delivered to boost investments in the gas industry.
This is as it equally pledged improved gas supply for industrial, power, transportation and domestic purposes and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) plant in Bonny, Rivers State.
Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, stated this in a speech delivered at the 3rd Biennial International Conference on Hydrocarbon Science and Technology (ICHST) 2023 in Abuja on Monday.
A statement by the spokesman to the Minister, Mr. Louis Ibah, quoted the Minister as restating the need to boost the domestic gas market.
Ekpo lamented that at present, the Nigeria LNG plant operates below its installed capacity due to gas supply constraint, even as the local gas market has been grossly under-tapped due to infrastructural and pricing issues.
He listed some of the factors stifling effective gas utilisation for export and local consumption to include; inadequate infrastructure, sabotage of crude oil and gas pipelines, unclear regulatory environment and inability to optimise value from the country’s abundant gas reserves.
“The Ministry under my watch has identified these challenges and is working assiduously with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources (Oil) to ensure the security of supply to the NLNG plants, and increase gas penetration and utilisation by local users for power, transportation, industrial and domestic purposes,” Ekpo said. “The Ministry of Petroleum Resources (Gas) is also working with relevant regulatory agencies like the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and Nigeriain Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to ensure that the robust regulatory and fiscal incentives produced by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) are seamlessly delivered.
With respect to the immediate optimisation of our gas resources, all policy initiatives proposed by various stakeholders are being reviewed by my office to lend full ministerial support,” he added.
Ekpo urged experts and stakeholders in the industry present at the conference to focus on tackling the issues of energy transition, sustainability and security to guarantee that Nigeria maximises the value of its abundant gas resources while ensuring access to affordable, sustainable energy for all citizens.
