The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has secured approval to work with select partners to produce Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) that would meet 10 per cent of current nationwide demand.
The Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Simbi Wabote announced this while speaking at the 2022 Nigerian International Energy Summit (NIES) in Abuja.
He said the board recently secured the approval of its governing council for a partnership to produce 123,000 metric tonnes per annum LPG, which is about 10 per cent of current demand nationwide, from the Utorogu Gas Plant, in Warri, Delta State, to enhance local production of LPG and reduce import requirements.
According to him, the board’s latest efforts are geared towards actualising the federal government’s “Decade of Gas” policy as well as the overarching Nigerian content aspirations to deepen in-country capacities.
Wabote explained that the federal government had introduced clear policies to make the nation become a gas-powered economy, to leverage on the country’s huge gas reserves and become a major gas consuming nation.
“Our partnerships in the gas sector have unlocked 6,000 metric tonnes of LPG storage facilities, annual production of 1.2million LPG composite cylinders, and infrastructure and facilities for processing of 840MMscfd of gas across 14 states of the federation. These states are: Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Bauchi, Nassarawa, Zamfara, Niger, Plateau, Gombe, Jigawa states and the Federal Capital, Abuja,” he said.
Commenting on the recently passed Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), Wabote encouraged international and local operators in the industry to approve final investment decisions (FID) for new projects to justify the energies that went into enacting the business-friendly legislation.
On the conversation around energy transition, Wabote insisted that forcing or nudging other nations to set timelines to reduce or abandon their locally available form of energy will be counter-productive.