By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, has said that Nigeria’s signing of the Paris Agreement will boost 100% domestic production of methanol fuels by 2025.
Kyari said this when he paid a visit to the Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, the Nation reports.
Kyari said the courtesy visit to the NEPC, the first of its kind heralded a new strengthened relationship between the two organizations.
He emphasized that the signing of the final investment decision to build Nigeria’s first methanol –processing plant expected to be completed in 2024 will create 30,000 direct and in-direct jobs during construction and about 5,000 jobs during operation.
Kyari reiterated the NNPC’s commitment to partnering with the NEPC in ensuring an enabling environment that promotes production, manufacturing and exporting that can swell Nigeria’s foreign reserves.
While welcoming Kyari, Awolowo hailed his efforts in securing Nigeria’s first methanol processing plant following the signing of a final investment decision in January 2021.
According to him, the project signifies federal government’s effort to maximize value and monetize Nigerian vast natural gas endowment, having significant economic and development impact on the country including revenue generation and import substitution for the methanol needs of the country that is currently 100% imported.
He added that the recent passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) was also highlighted as being instrumental in driving the growth of the downstream sector and supporting Nigeria’s diversification from being essentially a mono-economy on oil.