Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya, the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), stated on Monday that the country's gas infrastructure needs $20 billion annually for Nigeria to reach its targeted gas growth goal.
Orji said “this at the policy conversation on Nigeria's Decade of Gas Action plan in Abuja, adding that clarity was needed for infrastructure to be prioritized given the declining fossil fuel investment pictureâ€.
The Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) and the African Initiative for Transparency, Accountability and Responsible Leadership (AFRITAL) collaborated to organize the conversation.
According to Ripples Nigeria, the Federal Government launched the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) in December 2020 to expand the usage of natural gas and make it a preferred source of less expensive, cleaner energy for both residential and commercial use.
In his remarks during the debate, Orji claimed that Nigeria has gas reserves of more than 200 trillion cubic feet (tcf), making it the ninth-largest country in the world overall.
"The most significant development for the gas sector in terms of enhancing governance and establishing fiscal frameworks for the sector's expansion is provided by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA)â€.
The gas utilization plan ought to outline the commercially viable opportunities that could successfully convert the gas plans into long-term economic growth.
"There is a compelling need for deliberate, ambitious investment in the infrastructure of the gas utilisation policy. Particular connectivity between upstream facilities and processing, power plants, and other end uses is part of thisâ€.
The network code offers a framework through third-party access to address some connectivity concerns, but overall, it will take an estimated $20 billion per year to realize the desired gas expansion, according to Orji.
He suggested that the Federal Government develop and publish a detailed, realistic, coated, and comprehensive gas policy with clear roles for the state, non-state actors, and time lines to track ongoing progress, while noting that a new concept analysis would be required to demonstrate the new approaches the government intends to adopt to deliver on the gas infrastructure.
Orji further encouraged the government to create a link between the integrated gas strategy and Nigeria's energy transition policies that was industry-specific and had a supporting action plan built on a strong monitoring and evaluation framework to track execution.
He also demanded a comprehensive strategy to stop gas flaring through a private sector-led commercialization program and pursue a gas flare commercialization program that is open, competitive, and transparent.
Clarity regarding the infrastructure that should be prioritized is needed, given the declining investment picture for fossil fuels.
Orji asserts that the Petroleum Industry Act's provisions are consistent with the agency's estimate of the nation's gas reserves at over 200 trillion cubic feet.
According to him, Nigeria possesses the ninth-biggest gas reserves in the world and the largest in Africa.
According to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), the nation needs to invest $20 billion annually to complete the targeted gas expansion projects.
For the federal government's gas utilisation policy to be successful, there would be a compelling need for strategic, ambitious investment in gas infrastructure, according to Orji Ogbonnaya, executive secretary of NEITI.