By John Ikani
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited said it is currently working on building pipelines that would deliver gas from Nigeria to Europe.
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, disclosed this on Monday during the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum held in the United Arab Emirates.
The forum is an international gathering of government, industry, and thought leaders to set the energy agenda for the year.
Kyari stated that Nigeria was moving away from dirtier fuel to cleaner energy, adding that gas had been picked by the Federal Government as Nigeria’s transition fuel.
According to him: “What we are doing is some kind of replacement such that we move from the dirtier fuel to cleaner fuel which is gas.
“And what we had to do is to build the enormous gas infrastructure required to ensure that there is sufficient supply of gas into the domestic market and provide some for the international market.
“And more than that, within the West African context, you will see that energy inefficiency and poverty that you see in Nigeria is also in many West African countries around us.”
He added, “Therefore, we are trying to see how we can build a network of pipeline infrastructure that will deliver gas and potentially to jump into Europe through Morocco or through Algeria.”
What you should know
The drive for massive gas investment received a boost when President Muhammadu Buhari on August 16, 2021 signed the Petroleum Industry Act.
Nigeria has 203 trillion-cubit gas deposit and the NNPC Ltd in 2020 embarked on massive gas pipelines project, through the National Gas Expansion Programme.
Experts estimate that Nigeria’s 203 trillion-cubit gas resources will be enough to cover the West African region and other parts of the globe.
The national oil company is also making concerted efforts in the gas sector through various projects such as the NLNG Train 7, Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano Natural Gas Pipeline, Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben Gas Pipeline (OB3) and the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS).
