…set to expand Domestic Gas Footprint from 1.1BSCF to 2.2BSCF
…targets Nigeria as net exporter of petroleum products by 2023
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it will begin the construction of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline in the second quarter of this year just as it plans to double gas capacity from 1.1billion standard cubic feet of gas (BSCF) to 2.2BSCF.
The new gas pipeline, NNPC said, would serve as an enabler to further boost the economic activities of the country.
The Group Managing Director of the corporation, Mallam Mele Kyari, announced this at the ongoing 4th Sub-Saharan Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (SAIPEC) in Lagos.
The theme of the conference is “Oil & Gas as an Enabler for Economic Transformation in Sub Saharan Africa”.
“NNPC will aggressively expand its domestic gas footprint with the delivery of the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS) II to double capacity from 1.1billion standard cubic feet of gas (BSCF) to 2.2BSCF and the OB3 gas pipeline to connect East and the West,’’ he said.
Kyari said the recently enacted the Deep Offshore Act had set the industry on the path of irreversible growth.
“Oil and gas resources have remained the major source of revenue that has kept the wheels of Nigeria moving for over five (5) decades.
“Oil, as we all know, has served as key enabler to the economic transformation of many nations like Norway, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and many other oil resources dependent nations,” said the NNPC boss, represented by the Chief Operating Officer, (Gas and Power), Engr. Yusuf Usman.
Nigeria as Africa’s leading exporter of LNG and the 4th in the World after Qatar, Australia and Malaysia, Kyari said was ready to “capture’’ more LNG market with the Final Investment Decision of the NLNG Train 7.
“It is not a new story that most resource dependent nations rely on their dominant natural resource to drive other key economic initiatives and activities, noting that this is true of Nigeria and many other countries represented at the conference.’’
According to him, the connection between Oil and Gas Industry and the Nigeria economy was intricate as every aspect of the nation’s economic and social life revolves around the hydrocarbon resource.
Kyari, therefore, called for concerted efforts to diversify and move the economy away from its over dependence on oil revenues in order to avoid the risk of market fluctuations that may impact the nation’s fiscal equation.
“The current Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari has made it a priority to ensure revenues from oil and gas resources are utilized to support the emergence and growth of other non-oil sectors of the economy.
“In order to achieve this objective, it means more money will be required from the oil and gas to fund new economic projects outside the Oil and Gas Industry,” the NNPC GMD said in a statement by Mr Samson Makoji, the Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division.
Kyari said the NNPC, as a national Oil Company, had been repositioned to support the vision of Mr. President for economic diversification, even as he maintained that in the Upstream, the corporation targeted increasing oil production from 2.3million barrels per day to 3million bbl/day.
NNPC, he assured, would work with partners to significantly reduce cost per barrel in order to improve the flow of the needed revenue to support economic diversification.
He said the NNPC was encouraging private investors to join the train that traverses the oil and gas value chain to create more value and job opportunities for the nation’s teaming youths.
“Nigeria is still a net importer of petroleum products due to the current state of NNPC refineries and the long absence of private investment in the refining sector.
“NNPC is inviting investors to key into the revamp and expansion of domestic refining capacity in order to support the growth of the Downstream sector and guaranty energy security for the nation.
“We are progressing with the establishment of condensate refineries to fast-track domestic supply of petroleum products.
“In the same vein, the corporation would support the actualization of the 650Kbbl/day Dangote Refinery, as well as other private initiatives along this line.
“Our plan is for Nigeria to become a net exporter of petroleum products by 2023,” Kyari said.
To take NNPC higher, he said it was leveraging on technology and innovation to achieve the goal of building an energy company of global excellence and urged stakeholders to collaborate with the corporation in an atmosphere that is beneficial to all and emplaces Nigeria on the path of growth and development.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), Mr Bank-Anthony Okoroafor, had lauded Kyari for being a “true friend of the industry’’ and called for deeper regional integration among African countries to boost the continent’s economic activities.
Highpoints of the three-day conference include panel sessions, tour of the exhibition pavilions and presentation of Award of Excellence to Okoroafor by the representative of the GMD.
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