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Nigeria to Prioritise Natural Gas Exploitation, Says Buhari

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President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria will invest and focus more attention on natural gas exploitation for both the domestic market and export.

 Buhari, who also doubles as Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources stated this at the 6th Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Summit in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday.

He said the enactment of Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) was designed to enable Nigeria to derive more value from natural gas.

 Buhari was represented at the event by the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, according to a statement issued in Abuja, by the Special Adviser to the Minister on Media and Communications, Mr. Horatius Egua.

According to the statement, President Buhari said the recent enactment of the PIA was an indication of government’s commitment to derive more value from natural gas by providing required governance, regulatory and fiscal framework to support the industry’s growth.

He said Nigeria, a gas hub with some oil, was committed to sustainable growth of natural gas exploitation and utilisation, both for domestic use and export via LNG and pipeline gas to sub-regional African countries.

Furthermore, he said that Nigeria is embarking on different initiatives, projects, and policies to enhance the performance of the oil and gas sector.

The President listed some of the gas initiatives Nigeria is currently embarking upon to include the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP).

“NGEP is designed to provide framework and policy support to extend gas supply and utilisation in power generation, gas-based industries and in emerging niche gas sectors.

“Such are gas in transportation, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for cooking and remote virtual gas supply using trucks to convey LNG and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to industries,” Egua quoted President Buhari as saying.

“The other initiatives according to the president are the Ajaokuta-Abuja-Kano gas pipeline to support five billion cubic feet per day of domestic gas utilisation in the near term and five-Gigawatt power generation.

“The expanding of the current LNG production capacity to about 30 million tons per annum at Bonny with the on-going N-LNG Train seven project and the declaration of 2021-2030 as the Decade of Gas towards a gas-powered economy.

“This would not only lower Nigeria’s gas (GHG) emissions but also reduce the country’s import bills.”

The President noted that with natural gas projected to be the leading fossil fuel in the energy transition, the GECF, given its member countries vast experience, was well positioned to provide credible platform to promote natural gas as a sustainable fuel for an effective energy transition.

We, therefore, need to continue to assess the gas and energy market dynamics both in the short, medium, and long-term time frame with the aim of taking market opportunities and collectively address the challenges,” he noted.

To achieve the set objectives, Buhari stressed the need to work together as policymakers, investors, decision-makers, researchers, and technology developers to make modern energy sources such as natural gas available and affordable to all.

He reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to Conference of Parties (COP26) Glasgow declaration towards zero carbon emissions, even as he underscored the importance of natural gas for effective energy transition towards a low carbon future.

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