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Nigeria gas resources currently stood at 200.79 TCF, says DPR

NIGERIAN GAS SECTOR: STATUS, OPPORTUNITIES, AND WAY FORWARD

The Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR  said Nigeria is endowed with abundant Gas resources which  currently put at 200.79 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) as at 1/1/2019, adding that thus, gas has the potential to catalyse industrial growth and development in addition to its role as a key revenue earner to government.

Mr. Wole Ogunsola,the  Deputy Manager Gas Division disclosed this during his presentation on the Nigerian Gas Sector at the 2019 DPR media workshop at Epe on Nigerian  Gas Sector: Status, Opportunities and the Way Forward.

Ogunsola  said that today, going by the 2018 DPR Annual Gas Dashboard, Nigeria produces and average of 8.06 Billion Standard Cubic Feet per day (BSCFD)adding that 41 per cent of this production goes to the export market (LNG and WAGP).

He said that 17 per cent to the domestic market whereas 31 per cent is used for oil field operations including gas re-injection and the balance 11% is flared.

He said that prior to this time, lack of adequate physical, legislative and commercial structures for gas has militated on the development of the sector since the commencement of oil and gas production in 1958.

“Today, however, Government is deliberate in the formulation and implementation of gas-centric Policies and Programmes. To this end, the National Gas Policy (NGP) was approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2017 aimed at ensuring the development of the gas sector to drive gas-based industrialisation in Nigeria.

“Arising from the above, DPR, being the Government Department that drives the implementation of Government policies and Programmes in the Oil and Gas Sector, is pursing the following focus areas to drive growth of the sector on Reserves Growth, Domestic Gas Supply,High Value Gas Export and     Gas Flares-out.

“In light of the above, the Department is at the forefront of driving the implementation of three (3) key Government Programmes for sectorial development,’’ he said.

Ogunsola said that the Nigeria Gas Transportation Network Code (NGTNC) Code, simply referred to as Network Code, is a set of rules that guide the use of the gas transportation system in Nigeria.

He said that the Code essentially governs the operations of all the network players including Suppliers, Transporters, Shippers and Agents. 

 He said that the Code, which is patterned after the United Kingdom’s Uniform Code (UNC), shall entrench transparency in the gas industry,  fair & non-discriminatory access to the gas network, promote Gas trading and deepen domestic gas penetration in-country, promote Investments in the gas sector and entrench specialization and professionalism in gas business.

According to him, “The NGFCP is designed for the Federal Government to award flare sites to competent third-party companies with proven technical capacity and financial capability to take flare gas to market through competitive bid round process.

“The Programme is the first market-driven programme undertaken on a large scale globally and unique in its potential to attract major investments in economically viable gas flare capture projects whilst addressing a 60-year environmental problem in Nigeria.

“The NGFCP is currently underway and interested parties have submitted Statement of Qualification (SOQ) earlier in the year. Following a rigorous evaluation exercise conducted in line with established Guidelines, Qualified Applicants have, in July 2019, been notified of their ‘PASS’ status through the DPR website and NGFCP Portal in readiness for the next stage of the Programme – Request for Proposal (RfP) Phase.

“The DPR, in collaboration with relevant Government agencies, are working to deepen Domestic LPG penetration nationwide.  The DPR has revised relevant Guidelines to promote investment in the LPG sub-sector while enforcing safety requirements and good engineering practices.

“To conclude, the development of the Gas sector had hitherto been hampered by the absence of robust legislative, physical and commercial structures for gas and the mono-product nature of economy.

“Today, however, most of the erstwhile constraints are being addressed in a holistic manner via Government Policies and Programmes, including the National Gas Policy, Nigerian Gas Transportation Network Code (NGTNC), Domestic LPG Penetration and the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP), amongst others,’’ he added.

Ogunsola said that Nigeria is working to leverage its abundant gas potentials to enlarge the National Cake for Sustainable Development and the DPR is committed to ensure the realization of these objectives through the full implementation of all applicable policies and programmes.

 

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