Yemisi Izuora
Nigeria is expected to take more investment decisions to increase production so as to meet consumption projection it has set in the Liquified Petroleum Gas, LPG, space the Executive Secretary, ES of the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board, Simbi Wabote has said.
Wabote in an address to the 4th Edition of the Nigerian Oil & Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF), with the
theme; “Oil & Gas Industry – Catalyst and Fuel for the Industrialization of Nigeria”, Executive Secretary, ES, of the Board, Simbi Wabote, on Thursday in Yenagoa Bayelsa State, said the theme reflects the pivotal role that the oil and gas industry is expected to play in driving the economic growth and development of Nigeria.
He said currently there are seeming opportunities driven by policies, guidelines, regulations, and statutes that are now attractive to investors as there is clarity on the framework governing their business endeavours.
According to the ES, there are several policies that have been formulated and implemented by the Government in their quest to stimulate economic growth and development.
He recalled that, in 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari, declared the Decade of Gas which among others seek to stimulate the development and utilization of gas resources for increased domestic utilization and export towards generating more revenue for the nation.
He also noted that other policies such as the automotive gas policy advocates for the use of Compressed Natural Gas, CNG as an alternative fuel for vehicles which has also created a vista of opportunities in the supply and installation of conversion kits in vehicles to enable it use of CNG.
In addition, he said several industries have also installed kits to enable their power generating plants to utilize CNG and in some cases LNG instead of diesel to manage cost.
These policy initiatives have led to creation of several businesses and a surge in local utilisation of gas.
Although he said the annual consumption of LPG increased from 360,000tonnes in 2015 to 1.4million tonnes in 2022, he however added that while this growth is commendable, it is instructive to note that about half of the local LPG requirement is imported.
He further said despite that current local production level is still far below local market demand, the National Gas Expansion Program (NGEP), has set a 4 million tonnes projection for the year 2025.
By this estimation the Country would have to double efforts to meet estimated 2.6 million gap in 2025.
These gaps in volumes and consumption spread present opportunities in local processing, storage depots, trucking, cylinders manufacturing, distribution pipelines, conversion kits, and many other opportunities, said Wabote.
Speaking further, the ES, said the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) is another policy that is aimed at promoting the development and utilization of gas.
“It also focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with global efforts which are aimed at addressing climate change.
The key thing to note here is that every policy, regulation, or statute holds an array of opportunities that can be harnessed and utilized to achieve significant benefits.” he explained.