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The NNNPC says that that the country’s oil and gas industry will need at least $40 billion in direct investments.
- The corporation says that electricity generation will likely consume about 70 per cent of the entire gas produced.
- The current plan is to generate 45,000MW from gas over the next decade.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has stated that the country’s oil and gas industry will need at least $40 billion in direct investments in basic infrastructure to meet the federal government’s “Decade of Gas” targets. The NNPC added that it intends to increase gas supply from the current 1.6 billion cubic feet to between 7.4 billion cubic feet to 10 billion cubic feet of gas over the next couple of years.
Speaking at a virtual forum organised by the Association of Local Distributors of Gas (ALDG), tagged “The Decade of Gas: Unlocking Opportunities in the Domestic Gas Market,” the Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, NNPC, Mr Yusuf Usman, stated that a major constraint had been the difficult funding conditions placed by foreign lenders.
He added that the NNPC plans to develop 10 gas-based industries this decade; he also added that about 39 thermal power plants were being targeted. According to Usman, there are urgent plans to complete ongoing gas projects in the country, including the 614km AKK project. Usman stated that the NNPC projects the demand for gas for electricity generation will consume about 70 per cent of the entire gas produced as the current plan is to generate 45,000MW.
The Secretary-General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Dr Sanusi Barkindo, stated that the organisation’s latest estimates indicate that capital investments in the upstream oil and gas sector fell by 30 per cent in 2020. Barkindo noted that with an estimated 47 per cent of the population in Sub Saharan Africa having no electricity and approximately 85 per cent of people lacking access to clean fuels and technologies for cooking, all resources available on the continent should be utilised to ensure an equitable distribution of energy that leaves no one behind. “When all is said and done, access to energy, like education and health care, should not be considered a luxury but a human right.