Kachikwu, Baru advocate gas economy for Nigeria
News & Trends •
by edith ike-eboh6 he said that a review of the 2008 gas policy was on going to tackle all issues concerning the gas sector1 they both made the assertion on monday at the nigerian gas association 11th international conference and exhibition holding in abuja1 presenting a keynote address baru said nigeria was more of a gas than an oil nation1 he spoke on the topic gas as catalyst for sustainable national growth1 with the huge deposit of gas in the country it is germane that we leverage on the potential to grow our economy1 gas has significant impact on the gross domestic product gdp as it impacts on agriculture power and other sectors which influences economic growth he said1 he noted that in the last eight years government had invested in about 500 km of gas pipeline infrastructure adding that there was the need for more to be done1 in the last eight years we have completed and commissioned over 500 km gas pipelines which are now delivering gas to our power plants and industries1 some of the completed pipelines include the oben-geregu 196km escarvos-warri-oben 110km emuren-itoki 50km itoki-olurunshogo 31km imo river -alaoji 24km and ukanafun-calabar pipelines 128km1 he said that the corporation under the current administration had invested in gas pipeline projects and also signed mous on gas development1 baru said the nnpc is completing the construction of the 48 inches by 130km obiafu-obrikom-oben 0b3 east-west interconnection pipelines which would deliver 2bscdf of gas1 dr maikanti baru group managing director nigerian national petroleum corporate nnpc and minister of state for petroleum resources dr ibe kachikwu said the huge gas deposit in the country was a veritable tool for economic diversification1 in addition we are completing the expansion of the existing escravos to lagos pipeline elps to double the installed capacity of elps from 1.1bscfd to 2.2bscfd1 this will be commissioned by the end of this year he added1 commenting on gas production he said that the current average gas production in the country was in the region of 8.5bscfd out of which about 43 per cent or 3.7bscfd was exported1 he added that 3.2 per cent or 2.7bscfd was utilised for gas re-injection or gas lift 18 per cent or 1.5 bscfdwas for domestic and industrial use1 according to him the balance of 7 per cent or 0.6bscfd is flared daily1 this he said was unfortunate adding that efforts were on to stop the gas flaring1 baru further noted that pipeline vandalism funding among others remained a major challenge in the effort to develop the sector1 in his remarks kachikwu reiterated the need to create enabling environment for gas to lead in the economic diversification in the country1 he said that nigeria had all it takes to broaden its economy through gas given its huge deposit of natural gas1 the minister commended entrepreneurs striving to develop the sector andassured of improved policy and legal framework for the growth of the sector1 we expect to complete and commission this pipeline early 20191