FG to leverage gas utilisation for flare reduction, petrol divestment

With Nigeria flaring 321.29 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas, about 11 percent of gas produced, the Federal Government has said its agenda under the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP), will reduce flaring and aid divestment from use of dirty fuels like petrol and diesel.

According to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, flared gas is an important part of the global energy transition, the closest ally to renewables, prompting the development of the National Gas Policy, which sets the plans and strategy for the development of the sector.

Speaking during the Nigerian Economic Summit pre-summit event on, “Domestic Gas utilisation and commercialisation: Implementing the NDC Sectoral Action Plan for Energy,” Sylva said despite holding the largest gas reserves in Africa, the country had one of the lowest per capita consumption in the world.

Nigeria’s gas reserves were estimated at 200.79 trillion cubic feet (TCF) as of 1st January 2019, with associated gas reserves slightly above 50% with a total reserves Life index of 92 years as at 2018. Average daily production for gas stood at 7.97BCF/D in the reference year.

The United Nations (UN) describes energy as ‘’central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity the world faces today. Be it for jobs, security, climate change, food production or increasing incomes, access to energy for all is essential.” Nevertheless, even today, little or no access to energy deprives part of the world’s population of the opportunity to improve their quality of life.

Sylva said: “As a nation, we increasingly need to see that we are responsible for our future and accept that this means steadily improving environmental stewardship and governance both at national, geo-political and local levels, and opening decision making to a wider range of stakeholders.

“It means taking the lead in addressing the challenges of environmental sustainability and not hoping that international donors will step in and take care of these issues for us. What I mean is that we can work with outside partners to ensure it is Nigeria’s agenda that determines what is done.

“With the current drive of government to establish a fully deregulated PMS market, it is imperative to ensure Nigerians have access to alternative fuels that are cheaper and give great value to the consumer. Vehicles can be retro-fitted to run on LPG, LNG or CNG which are cheaper than PMS. Generators can also be retrofitted to utilize dual fuels.

“The NGEP is working assiduously to ensure that Nigerians can have access to these alternatives in the coming months. You will recall that I had directed that vehicles within my fleet and all the fleet of all heads of agencies under the Ministry be retro-fitted to utilize Autogas.

“With Autogas, Nigerians will make significant cost savings in comparison to PMS at the current price levels. It is also hoped that lifting the demand on PMS in-country may aid a downward price adjustment considering the normal forces of demand and supply.”