Nigeria targets global markets with $60bn gas expansion plan – NNPCL CEO

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) says the state is targeting 60 cardinal dollars successful caller investments implicit the adjacent 5 to 7 years to grow state infrastructure.

Mr Bayo Ojulari, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, disclosed this portion addressing a planetary assemblage from 150 countries astatine the opening of the Gastech Exhibition and Conference successful Milan, Italy.

He further stated that the Federal Government was seeking the concern to boost industrialisation and reenforce the country’s presumption successful the planetary vigor market.

According to him, the planned concern was aimed astatine scaling up Nigeria’s earthy state accumulation to 12 cardinal cubic feet per time and expanding the refinery capableness to conscionable increasing planetary vigor demand.

“We are seeking astatine slightest 60 cardinal dollars successful concern implicit the adjacent 5 to 7 years, which for our lipid and state manufacture is conscionable the extremity of the iceberg.

“We are seeking investors to turn production,” helium said.

Ojulari said the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), signed into instrumentality successful 2021, transformed NNPC into a constricted liability company, enabling it to entree nonstop backing and forge planetary partnerships.

He said that the institution was presently producing astir 1.6 cardinal barrels of crude lipid per time (bpd) with a mandate to turn output to 2 cardinal bpd by 2027 and 3 cardinal bpd by 2030.

He highlighted the ongoing projects, including the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) pipeline, the hold of the West African Gas Pipeline to Morocco and Europe, arsenic good arsenic the enlargement of the Nigeria LNG project.

According to him, Nigeria already supplies 60 per cent of LNG to Portugal and Spain, and is presently connected Train 6, constructing Train 7 to beryllium completed successful 2026, with plans for Trains 8 and 9.

“Nigeria has 1 of the best-run LNG businesses globally. We privation to instrumentality vantage of the existent precocious vigor demand, which is besides expected to spell adjacent higher” helium said.

On cleanable energy, Ojulari said authorities was driving LPG adoption and has launched a programme to present 2 cardinal cylinders nationwide, portion besides rolling retired a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) modulation strategy for vehicles and machinery.

On Nigeria’s relation successful planetary vigor security, helium added that geopolitical shifts, specified arsenic the Russia-Ukraine-war, had accelerated determination pipeline projects to fortify vigor security.

The NNPCL brag said Nigeria has implicit 200 undeveloped lipid and state fields, describing them arsenic greenfield opportunities for planetary investors.

On however overseas argumentation shifts impact Nigeria’s vigor sector, Ojulari said the state had been hosting investments from divers planetary players including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, Agip and Total.

“Nigeria is simply a planetary market. While overseas policies bash interaction us, our absorption is connected creating a unchangeable marketplace and gathering the close partnerships,” helium said.

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr Ekperikpe Ekpo, reaffirmed Nigeria’s committedness to leveraging its immense reserves to thrust industrialisation, determination integration and planetary vigor security.

He said that earthy state remained cardinal to Nigeria’s vigor strategy, powering industries, cleanable cooking, agriculture, occupation instauration and nationalist health.

“Nigeria arsenic a state federation is committed to utilizing our earthy state to service our economy, our continent, and different parts of the world,” helium assured.

Ekpo noted that the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) task was acceptable to rise accumulation capableness from 22 cardinal metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 30 MTPA with Train 7.

He said that the state was besides pushing determination pipeline diplomacy done the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline, a 5,000-kilometre transcontinental task designed to link West Africa to Europe.

He said that the authorities was besides engaging with Algeria and Equatorial Guinea connected the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline to grow determination vigor interconnectivity.

With an estimated 210 trillion cubic feet of state reserves, the curate said Nigeria was unfastened to investors and had introduced regulatory reforms and executi...