- Gas suppliers have urged FG to pay off its 1 billion debt for gas supplied to thermal stations
- The national electricity grid collapsed five times in the last six months of 2022 due to gas shortages.
Gas producers have asked the federal government to pay off $1 billion in legacy debts for gas supplied to thermal power generating companies. Mr Ed Ubong, Managing Director of Shell Gas Limited and President of the Nigerian Gas Association (NGA), expressed the displeasure of gas producers over the debt owed them during a panel session at the recently concluded Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition (NOG) 2022 in Abuja. They claimed that repaying the debt and establishing a free market pricing regime for the gas sector would ensure the continued operation of the country’s thermal power generating companies.
The national electricity grid collapsed five times in the last six months of 2022 due to various factors such as gas shortages caused by non-payment for gas supplied, vandalism of gas transportation pipelines, and a lack of active gas supply agreements (GSAs), among others.
The power industry regulator, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), assured Nigerians in June that the power sector would improve beginning July 1, 2022. Mr Sanusi Garba, Chairman of NERC, stated during a media briefing in Lagos that participants in the electricity sector, including the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Generation Companies (Gencos), Distribution Companies (Discos), and gas producers, had agreed to activate contracts that would ensure at least 5000MW of power was generated and delivered to Nigerians daily.
Ubong said: “There is not enough gas for cooking, so the cooking gas prices have gone up. Also, there is not enough gas to fire the thermal plants, so there is virtually no electricity. “It is apparent that upstream players are not happy with the legacy debt they are owed for gas supplied for power, close to a billion dollars. My appeal to the federal government is to find a way and pay this money so there will be peace.”