Nigeria earns around $5bn from gas production, Vice President Kashim Shettima has disclosed.
The Vice President, who made the disclosure at the 6th Value-chain Annual Lecture and Awards on Thursday in Abuja, added that the amount is 40 per cent less than Egypt, whose gas reserves is 30 per cent of Nigeria’s gas reserves.
Nigeria has about 208.83 trillion cubic feet of gas which represents 33 per cent of Africa’s total gas reserves of 620TCF.
He said, “Our production to reserve ratio is less than a 3rd of Egypt’s, less than a quarter of Algeria’s and around 10 per cent of Malaysia.
“In the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war, the EU and many other nations were shopping for LNG at the same time that Nigeria’s largest LNG assets were operating significantly below capacity because gas supply was inadequate.
“At this rate, according to Decade of Gas analysis, we could have a demand-supply gap of up to 10bscfd of gas by 2030.”
The Vice President, who was represented by Special Adviser to the President on Energy and Power Infrastructure, Office of the Vice President, Sodiq Wanka, said there is a dire need for the country to exploit its proven gas reserves to vastly enhance its fiscal position.
With gas accounting for 80 per cent of power generation, authorities are focused on increasing gas utilization in the country as it seeks to make it a critical transition fuel as its 2060 net-zero target beckons.
The number of industries that are gas-based and those that utilize gas for power are many, from fertilizer and methanol to cement and consumer goods.
But the story of Nigeria’s gas riches and potential cannot be complete without understanding that we are far off from that potential and have a lot of work to do, as public sector leaders and as captains of industry.
Shettima stressed that the government is working actively to resolve long standing liquidity issues in the power sector as it is set to roll out ambitious customer metering initiatives that would boost the sector.
“We will continue to strengthen sector governance that favours only technically and financially sound investors to own key assets in the power sector. We will drive the implementation of the Electricity Act 2023 to create a new narrative and new national framework for electricity that will bring investment to the electricity sector. In terms of upstream gas, the commitment of the government on ensuring the right tariffs to encourage exploitation of non-associated gas remains strong,” he said.
The Vice President noted that despite the enormous amount of work left to be done, the AKK pipeline projects are on course to be completed.
“The Obigbo-Umuahia-Ajaokuta pipeline will be key to ensuring the AKK pipeline is not gas-constrained while opening up new demand along its right of way. There is much work left on expanding the ELPS network among others. These projects can be significantly accelerated if we focus on making investments in them more attractive.
“Our network code must adequately cover private pipelines; we have to ensure that private investors are able to recover their costs and make a return on their investments by creating a new framework for tariffs that is not too rigid. And we need to have clear guidelines for tolling. The story is similar for other midstream infrastructure.
On security of oil and gas assets, Dhettima said, the “government will also not rest in continuing to pursue a holistic approach to the issue of security of petroleum assets – from strengthening the operationalization of the Host Communities Trust Fund to closer community engagement, surveillance and prosecution of identified vandals.
He urged the private sector to play a pivotal role by making the right investments in the sector.
“Nigeria cannot be a net exporter of LPG and still import LPG for domestic use because of infrastructure gaps. Our private sector must strengthen its resolve to look beyond short-term challenges and make investments taking a long-term view,” he said.
