Yemisi Izuora
Key Senior Executives across the oil and gas industry will converge at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja on 29 March 2021 under the auspices of Nigeria’s Ministry of Petroleum Resources’ Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (N.I.P.S) for a hybrid conference and high-level networking session.
The event, which is a pre-summit conference of the 2021 NIPS, with Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) as sponsors, is in furtherance of the Federal Government’s declaration of January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2030 as “the Decade of Gas Development for Nigeria”.
“The Decade of Gas” conference with the theme, “Towards a Gas-powered Economy by 2030” will feature President Muhammadu Buhari, as special guest of honour. Confirmed keynote speakers include Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources; Bitrus Bako Nabasu, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources; Mele Kolo Kyari, Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, Secretary General, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Tony Attah, Managing Director/CEO of NLNG, MD of Nigerian Ports Authority – Hadiza Bala Usman, amongst other distinguished invited quests and speakers.
Commenting on the Decade of Gas Initiative, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said “Nigeria should take the leading role in Africa as gas becomes the dominant fuel for generating power in the continent”, adding that it is the reason the federal government, under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, is implementing carefully conceived initiatives to foster productivity and attract investments in the gas value chain.
Sylva further noted that collaboration is needed from all stakeholders to transform Nigeria into a gas-based industrialised nation. The Ministry of Petroleum Resources is partnering with NLNG, as sponsors of the event, to officially flag-off “The Decade of Gas” and to produce the road map for the transformation of the Nigerian economy on the wings of gas. Nigeria LNG Limited, being one of the foremost global LNG players and Nigeria’s best example of value creation and economic transformation through gas utilization, is the partner of choice, to power the ‘Decade of Gas’ agenda of the Federal Government.
While discussing the format of the conference, James Shindi, Chief Executive of Brevity Anderson, organisers of the conference, observed that as a hybrid event, critical stakeholders will be deliberating physically in Abuja, with the public participating actively from the comfort of their homes via the interactive virtual platform. The sessions will also be recorded and can be assessed on demand even after the event for those who will be unable to follow the event live.
The Federal Government of Nigeria has demonstrated its commitment towards the objective of transforming the country into an industrialised nation driven by gas, through policies and projects like the NLNG T7 Project, the National Gas Expansion Programme, Autogas policy and the construction of the 614km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline. These initiatives and projects are expected to stimulate economic growth, further improve Nigeria’s energy mix, drive investments, and provide jobs in the country. Investments in gas will significantly reduce the nation’s carbon footprint as it is cheaper, cleaner and more available thereby conserving the environment into the future and improving our quality of life.