July 9, 2018

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it will deliver about 3.4 billion standard cubic feet per day (bscfd) of domestic gas daily by 2020 to bridged the current shortfall.

Dr Maikanti Baru, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, gave the assurance at a workshop tagged: “Framing Workshop on the Seven Critical Gas Development Projects (7CGDP)” on Monday in Lagos.

According to Baru, the projects will be implemented on an accelerated basis.

He said the strategy was to leverage on the country’s gas potential to ensure it had massive impact on the economy by 2020.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that to achieve the aim, NNPC has signed Utilisation and Units Operating Agreements (UUOA) with seven oil and gas companies to bridged the shortfall.

He said there was need for Nigeria to be the regional hub for gas-based industries such as fertizer, methanol, LPG and ensure a high value gas export through regional gas pipelines.

He said the workshop, which was one of the high points in NNPC journey, was to stimulate unprecedented economic growth through the pursuit of aggressive gas development.

He explained that the issue of inadequate gas supply for domestic market had been on for several years, and that the workshop marked a major milestone in the quest to bridge that shortfall.

The NNPC chief said the corporation had engaged two world class project management consultants (DeltaAfrik/Worley Parson and Crestech/Penspen) to work with NPDC and NNPC JV Partners to achieve the set goals.

He added that the NNPC project management groups would strengthen their oversight functions on the seven projects by ensuring prompt decision making and timely approvals in line with international best practices.

According to Baru, one of the benefits of the projects is quick wins through synergy within a short term.

He said the processed gas would be evacuated through the Uquo Gas Plant to Trans Nigeria Gas Pipeline through Ukanafun-Obigbo Node to OB3 pipelines.