By Joseph Jibueze, Deputy News Editor

The National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) will be a key enabler of economic diversification, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, has said.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, inaugurated the NGEP committee on January 16 as a mechanism to boost domestic natural gas utilisation in the short and medium-term.

NGEP stole the show at the ministry’s 2020 third quarter mandate performance scorecard review session.

Sylva believes the ministry is delivering on its mandate.

He said: “I am glad that we have started on a positive note with the commencement of the Nigeria Gas Flare Commercialisation Program (NGFCP), the NGEP, flag-off of the National Gas Transportation Code, the Marginal Field Bid Round, the flag-off of the construction of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline, and the committee on Gas Sector-Wide Review of the Domestic Gas Pricing Framework.

“These programmes/activities are geared towards achieving the mandate handed to us by Mr President.

“It is, therefore, my earnest hope that we will carefully drive these programmes/activities to a logical conclusion.

“On this note, I hereby declare NGEP as the flagship program of the ministry based on the outstanding work the committee is doing.

“I have surrendered my vehicles to the NGEP to convert all to dual fuel with the use of either AutoLPG or AutoCNG.

Read Also: Gas supply to domestic market set to rise

“And on that premise, I now have the moral backing to direct that all CEOs and their able lieutenants do same by converting all their official vehicles to run on Autogas as a demonstration to the Nigerian people that indeed the government meant it when we declare this year ‘The Year of Gas’.”

NGEP chairman, Dr Mohammed Ibrahim, represented by Mr Justice Derefaka, who is the Technical Adviser (TA) on Gas Business and Policy Implementation to Sylva, said the programme would unlock opportunities in the gas sector.

Derefaka, who is also the Program Manager of the NGFCP as well as Program Manager, Autogas in the NGEP, believes the programme would not only help tackle energy poverty but would facilitate the end of carbon-intensive energy usage that pollutes the environment.

He said: “The NGEP is in furtherance of the domestic gas expansion programme of the current administration.

“It is designed to re-enforce and expand domestic gas supply and stimulate demand through the effective and efficient mobilisation and utilisation of all available assets, resources and infrastructure.”

Among NGEP’s terms of reference, he said, are to establish a comprehensive data bank of all gas relevant assets, infrastructure and facilities both public and private in the country, and identify the volumes of un-committed gas and their locations (public and private).

The ministry hopes the NGEP will create over 12 million direct and indirect jobs.

Its key programmes include Autogas (Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) development for automobiles and other prime movers.

Derefaka said: “The committee has identified Autogas development as a key deliverable of the NGEP.

“Consequently, plans have reached advanced stage in line with ministerial directive and support for the development of LPG, CNG and LNG co-location in NNPC owned and operated mega stations in the 36 states and the FCT.

“Under this arrangement, retail outlets will offer a full complement of gas products as transportation fuels in addition to existing white products as cheaper, cleaner and more environmentally friendly alternatives.

“The NNPC and mega retail outlets owners and equipment providers are fully on board in this objective and measures are in place to achieve a roll-out of this programme by end of September 2020 using select NNPC owned outlets as pilots.”

On Post COVID-19 and what is the next new normal for natural gas, Derefaka said: “In the long run, a sustained decline in the price of oil may not be a bad thing for Nigeria as this may push us to diversify our economy using gas and away from dependence on oil.”

According to him, an opportunity exists for leveraging gas to develop industries that use it as feedstock to produce methanol and ammonia, used in fertilizer production.

He cited the example of Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) as a country that has accomplished much with its gas resources.

Derefaka said: “With a small population of 1.4 million and only 11 TCF of proven gas reserves, the country has developed a globally competitive petrochemicals industry.

“Today, T&T is the world’s largest exporter of ammonia and second-largest exporter of methanol, contributing significantly to the country’s GDP.

“Nigeria, with significantly larger gas reserves, has the potential to achieve even bigger success compared to T&T.”

Derefaka added that the scorecard review was organised to minimise the risk of policy failure.

“What we did at the Ministerial Mandate Performance Scorecard Review was to analyse linkages between policy interventions and effects for a deeper understanding of observed policy successes or failure,” he said.

Besides, he said the ministry was also being more accountable, as the review “provides citizens and other stakeholders with information on whether the efforts carried out by the ministry, including allocated financial resources, are producing the expected results”.

Technical Adviser on Downstream to Chief Sylva, Dr Abner Ishaku, spoke of a plan to set up a CNG retail outlet at the Presidential Villa.

According to him, an inspection has been undertaken by representatives of NGEP and partner companies.

Ishaku, who is the Program Manager of CNG utilisation in the NGEP, said discussions were ongoing with stakeholders on deepening the use of CNG as a cheaper alternative energy source for Nigerians.