WITH 1.5 billion cubic feet per day and another 300 million that is unutilised in the East, the country has hit an all-time high record in domestic gas production.
Also, an assurance has come to lawmakers that are opposed to the inclusion of the Petroleum Host Communities Fund (PHCF) in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that the fund is not only to benefit oil-producing areas but every community where pipelines run through.
Former Senior Special Adviser to the President on Energy Matters, Dr. Emmanuel Egbogah, told The Guardian in Houston Tuesday that the controversy over the inclusion of PHCF in the PIB was unnecessary.
Senator Ganiyu Solomon has also assured that the National Assembly would pass the PIB before the end of the year.
“We had a briefing on the PIB just last week Monday and I can assure Nigerians that we are on course to passing the most beneficial oil and gas legislation. We have our rules and all we have been doing is to conduct activities that will culminate in the passage of the bill in accordance with our rules. We have a roadmap we are following and that roadmap includes passing the bill this year. Nigerians have every reason to be hopeful that a new oil and gas legislation would be passed before the end of the current year,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has called on the global community and international oil traders to drop their appetite for stolen crude oil from Nigeria and join in the fight against the nefarious activities of oil thieves and pipeline vandals.
The appeal signaled a major focus in tackling the demand side of the global oil theft matrix, which is a growing menace to the smooth operation of the industry in Nigeria.
Speaking at the presentation of the keynote address at the ongoing Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas, United States, Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke who was represented by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group Managing Director Andrew Yakubu, stated that it was imperative to halt the appetite for stolen crude oil from Nigeria if the country must make appreciable progress in this regard.
The NNPC’s Group Executive Director, Gas and Power, Dr. David Ige, said the erratic power supply in the country was as a result of inability to transmit and distribute and not for want of gas production.
Yakubu, fielding questions on the sidelines of the conference, said: “The President is taking this matter seriously and the Honourable Minister is working at it aggressively. It takes two to tango. If those stealing our crude do not find a market for it there would be no incentive to steal; that is why we are appealing to the international community to take action. The tracing of our crude by DNA to the destination is being looked into to ensure that the fingerprints of our crude are traceable to the various destinations.’’
The address, which dwelt on the theme, “Development Efforts in the West African Exploration Zone,” described the sub-region as the most important petroleum province in the world.
“The natural advantages of the region’s open and unrestricted sea lanes and light sweet crude makes it one of the most important petroleum provinces in the world,” the minister stated.
She noted that as the dominant player in the sub-region Nigeria has pioneered some set of initiatives geared towards ensuring positive impact on the economy. They include growth in crude oil reserves and expansion in production capacity, repositioning of gas for re-industrialisation/stimulation of the economy, regional and export penetration, revitalization of existing downstream capacities and additional capacity to support energy needs as well as reforms of key institution to anchor the growth aspiration of the industry.
Mrs. Alison-Madueke noted that the PIB was designed to increase exploration and development activities in the region by creating a more competitive environment for both independent and major oil and gas companies.
“This in addition will attract investment into the sector. Therefore, West Africa will continue to play a significant role in the global oil and gas energy supply mix post-Shale oil and gas discoveries in the world,” she said.
Speaking further, Ige said: “The generation of power is not a stand-alone thing. It involves generation, transmission and distribution. I can talk clearly on the gas supply side. If you look at the progression over the last two years, we have significantly increased gas production. In fact, at the moment, domestic gas production in Nigeria is at all-time high. We are now producing about 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of gas, which is the highest ever, the country has produced. Apart from this, we have another 300 million that is available in the East that is not utilized now. So, our gas development is actually on the increase and it is the most aggressive rate. We have grown about 200 percent year-on-year.”
Ige went on to blame the epileptic electricity supply in the country on failure to evacuate gas that has been produced.
According to him, as supply continually competes with demand, stakeholders are also taking steps to increase gas generation to meet the anticipated increase in transmission and distribution of power.
“The generation capacity is growing everyday because stakeholders are bringing in new turbines everyday. However, I can say for sure that our current gas availability is not enough for all the generating capacity that is being built and we recognize that. At any point in time, demand is going to be ahead of supply because demand is pulling supply. Right now, the inability of Nigeria to have stable power supply is not as a result of unavailability of gas but the distribution challenges we are still grasping with. Generation is far ahead of distribution and transmission,” he explained.
Ige disclosed that plan was underway to bring additional 130million cubic feet per day aimed at achieving two billion cubic feet per day over the next two years.
According to him, Nigeria is on strong footing to generate, transmit and distribute 4.5 gigawatts of electricity if all the supply chains are in order.
And an assurance has come to Northerners that the PHCF is not fashioned after the Niger Delta Development Commission but set up to take care of all communities that have one thing or another to do with oil business, such as those through which pipelines run.
According to Egbogah: “Nobody can be justified in opposing the inclusion of the host community fund in the new PIB. I was the one that created the Petroleum Host Communities programme when I was Special Adviser to the President on Energy Matters. It is the biggest and best thing to happen to Nigeria because many people forget that this programme was launched when former President Musa Yar’Adua launched the amnesty programme. The whole amnesty programme was anchored on the host communities’ programme. Now, people are talking rubbish about something they know nothing about. The host communities’ programme is something that we created that every part of the world is trying to emulate. We got commendations from every part of the world on how we achieved this because it is the best human development that has happened anywhere. This is not something that is new in the PIB. The most surprising thing about the whole scenario is that Northerners are complaining about it now. Whereas when it was published, it was as if I had gone mad because we were giving something to the North because the way it was designed, it made provisions for all the corridors where there are pipelines or roads and anything connected to oil, are all expected to get the dividends that accrue under the Host Communities Fund. Are there no pipelines that run from the South to Kaduna and other northern states?”
Egbogah would not be drawn to the debate on whether the presidency has done enough to convince the lawmakers who are opposed to this section, saying: “I cannot speak for government because I am no longer the special adviser to the president on energy.”
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