By Yemi Olakitan
After the Russia-Ukraine war, which began in February 2022, caused uncertainty in the European gas market, the European Union (EU) looks to Nigeria as a substitute to meet its additional gas needs.
Currently, Nigeria is the source of 14% of the EU’s LNG imports. According to reports from the global oil and petrol market, the bloc might double this amount.
Nigeria’s Ministry of Petroleum Resources claims it has a variety of enablers and initiatives to fill the gap and take the country’s oil and gas industry to new heights as the EU looks for alternatives to Russian gas supplies that are becoming increasingly scarce.
The creation of vital infrastructure and systems, such as the declaration of the Decade of Gas, are key facilitators for realizing the promise of the gas sector.
President Muhammadu Buhari named the period from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2030, as “The Decade of Gas Development for Nigeria” in March 2021, principally to lay out a roadmap for a gas-powered economy by that year.
Others include the Nigerian Gas Transportation Network Code projects, the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP), the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP), and the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas pipeline.
The EU, in collaboration with the Federal Government, had also reaffirmed its interest in increasing funding for the Nigerian petrol project in order to ensure satisfying local demand and generating foreign exchange on the global market.
As a result, Chief Timipré Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, met with an EU team headed by Mr. Matthew Baldwim, Deputy Director-General, EU Energy Platform Task-Force, to discuss how the two parties may collaborate on technology and regulations to advance the project.
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The move, according to the minister, would speed up the EU’s aim to secure a substitute for the gas it currently imports from Russia and strengthen Nigeria’s position on the global oil and gas market.
The media reported Sylva as adding, “We have always indicated that we are dedicated to using petrol as a transition fuel, and today we are speaking the same language with the EU.
The minister has stated that the project was on track and would present a significant opportunity for Nigeria and others to tap into the European market as Nigeria seeks Europe and Trans-Saharan markets with ongoing AKK Gas Pipeline construction.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) is in charge of the largest single petrol project in Nigeria, costing 2.8 billion dollars. It is anticipated to increase industrialization, domestic petrol consumption, and power production.
The 614-kilometer pipeline, which was designed to promote local industrial growth, would be Nigeria’s largest domestic petrol transmission infrastructure when it is finished. A group of domestic and foreign engineering companies will construct the pipeline.
This is advantageous for the producers as well because it will encourage them to increase output since more people will have access to gas as a result of increased connectivity and investment in gas-based businesses. Additionally, the project will entirely stop petrol flaring in the nation, he claimed.
The Federal Government recently took action to close a crucial gap in its endeavour to grow the nation’s gas industry by establishing the Governing Council of the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, which will help the search for gas resources even more (MDGIF).
The nine-member Council will raise money to build vital gas sector infrastructure and will find key players who can boost the domestic use of natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and autogas.
The council will also create a plan for turning petrol into a product with added value in Nigeria.
Despite programmes aimed at realising the decade of gas ambitions and maximising Nigeria’s enormous gas potential, Sylva claimed that the lack of fundamental gas infrastructure continued to be the initiative’s weak point.
