The Decade of Gas Secretariat has disclosed that Nigeria will add 20 percent to her current production in 2024., adding that this is based on all that have been seen and working with all the critical stakeholders in the sector.
The Director, Decade of Gas Secretariat, Ed Ubong, expressed this confidence while speaking at the ongoing Nigeria International Energy Summit in Abuja with the theme ‘Navigating the New Energy World Order: Security, Transition and Finance’.
Ubong pointed out that lot of it will come from gas flaring, a lot of it will also come from payments of 0.5 levy on the top of every wholesale price but that money must be invested back in the gas sector to allow Nigeria to develop its large-scale infrastructure.
“Last year when the snapshot was started, it was thought that there were only about 10 projects that would deliver about 3 BCF a day which was what was seen as a short-term goal but following the inauguration of the secretariat and the work being done by all the sponsors group today we have 20 plus projects that can deliver about 4.6 BCF a day.
“If we all follow through with that estimate, Nigeria stands a chance of doubling its current gas production by 20 per cent. 4.6 BCF a day that is long term up to 2030”, he said
The Director lauded firms working on the Asa North project, noting that Chevron has committed to ensure that we have continued to produce over 300 million of SCOF of gas a day into the ELPS.
He said, “So apart from sustenance, we’re going to see a 20 percent jump in gas production in country. Additionally it is worth noting that based on all the work being done by the Honorable Minister of State for Gas in January alone the LNG supply has moved to the levels that we’re seeing last two years ago.
“The final investment decision is an indication that we have agreed that we are going to invest money as an industry.”
Commending Shell for declaring their first FID in January, Ubon stated further that the CELI when it comes on sale will produce 100 million SCOF of gas a day to the Dangote fertilizer plants.
“That’s a huge, that’s about 400 megawatt worth of energy that will be consumed in the domestic sector. It is not all done, there are various unlocks enablers that are being requested by the sector to continue to progress this work and that discussion has been supported by the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the SA for Energy who is working on looking at how the fiscals can be tuned to make projects more profitable adding that efforts are being made to ensure that the issue of gas pricing begins to work and also there’s an improvement along the Elps which is the main transportation line adding that all the stakeholders have joined hands to ensure that we are safe and walking that track,” he said.
Ubong stressed that sitting at the back of the Elps is about 300 to 600 million SCOF of gas a day which can become available once the OB3 OB line is completed.
He emphasized that the most important is that today at the highest level right from the presidency there is a monthly report on that piece of work on how its progressing stating that the minister has assured that work will be completed by the end of March.
“I know there have been a couple of side visits by the EVP Gas and Power, a key champion for delivering that project together with the GCO, NNPCL. Once OB3 is complete, the link and the support lines, over 600 million SCOF of gas a day will become available on the network feeding into the AKK, feeding into the West where there is significant demand,” he noted.
He said this is the single most critical infrastructure that we need to complete in the short term to improve the overall gas reliability that we see in the system stating that between October 2023 and the end of January 2024 he government has paid over 120 million dollars to offset some of debts owed to the GenCos.
He said that more importantly that the government is also now working a framework that can liquidate most of that areas.
“That’s a piece of work that is ongoing and we hope that it will be approved and then the industry can move away from that legacy issues”, we must build capacity for gas, he added.
Ubong said “The engineers, the technicians that will work in this new gas sector that we are looking at over the next decade and at the Secretariat we are committed to that. We’re looking for interns, we’re looking for young people who are willing to join us and then provide their time and energy in supporting the wider and bigger goal of the sector.
“For the first time we now have an inter-ministerial committee, one that involves both the Minister of State for Gas and the Ministry of Power because power and gas they go together.
“We are confident that when that has become fully operational that critical link between gas and power will lead to more sustainable solutions going forward”.
