Yemisi Izuora
Stakeholders in the oil and gas sector have asked the federal government to provide more incentives ranging from securities on the return of investment, policies consistency, and others as the means to reap the many fortunes in the gas industry.
These were critical issues raised at a briefing hosted by Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), to announce the upcoming Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum (OLEF 2017).
Speaking at the briefing, Nigeria Council Chairman, SPE, Dr. Saka Matemilola, stated that the country is running at a loss owing to low incentives in the gas business which remains a hub in Nigeria.
According to him, For the infrastructure, you need to know how much gas is available for you to be sure that there is sufficient gas to meet the economy demand.
“The problem is that for pricing the people who are willing to invest is not encouraged by the economies.”
He argued that Nigerian banks do not have the capacity to fund investment in the sector, adding that, “It will take billions of dollars to put into the gas business, which the Nigeria banks don’t have.
Investors want the security of their funds and our environment does not provide that opportunity.
“Again if it is domestic, the person that would want to buy the gas will not want to buy it above a certain cap. The issues are quite much.
He explained that the Federal government lacks fund to develop the decay in infrastructure, saying, “If I may ask, does the government have the money to develop infrastructures in the gas sector?
Because there are many pressing needs that funds can solve like Health and education.
He hinted that the petroleum policy is such that has no clear direction for the gas industry, adding “The way it is now in the petroleum policy, it is such that they are not clear yet of what they want to do with the gas sector. All the promises to enable achieved the goals is not stated or clear.”