The Federal Government, on Thursday, urged South African government to explore investment opportunities in the nation’s oil and gas sector for growth.
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) Director, Mr. Ladan Modecai, gave the advice at the Nigeria – South Africa Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting in Lagos.
He said the development became necessary in order to impact on the economy of South Africa and other countries in the continent.
He said the country’s oil and gas sector boasts of $50billion investment, adding that the cash is huge enough to bring about growth in African countries, including South Africa.
He said there are investment opportunities in areas such as 37.4 trillion cubic feet of gas deposit,Trans-Nigeria gas pipeline project, Gas Revolution Industrial Park at Ogidigben Free Trade Zone (FTZ ), three power plants for additional 3.2GW capacity, licensing and establishment of several modular refineries. Others are collocating a refinery within Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company, rehabilitation/upgrade of the refineries, revamp of Liquefied Petroleum Gas and building of new Compress Natural Gas (CNG) plants across the country as well as pipeline and storage tank construction.
Represented by Deputy Manager, Gas Exploration and Production, Joseph Ogunsola, Modecai urged South Africa to leverage Nigeria’s gas potential for growth.
He said: “The National Gas Policy, Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Program and Gas Network Code are key enablers in charting our path towards Optimum Gas Development and Gas-Based Industrialisation. Most of the erstwhile constraints are being addressed in a holistic manner through government policies, reforms, and gas monetisation drive. Hitherto, absence of robust legislative, physical and commercial structures for gas and mono product nature of economy have militated against the achievement of gas utilisation.’’
He stressed the need for stakeholders in the nation’s economy to shun blame game over the lingering incidence of gas flaring in the country, saying Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme remains the best panacea to stop flaring in Nigeria
He further said over 170 flare locations spread across the Niger Delta ,reiterated that achieving zero flares in Nigeria by 2020 will require up to $3 billion in investments. He added that the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) will ensure positive impact to communities in the Niger Delta and monetise wasted gas resources in Nigeria
’’Elimination of flared gas is a win for all parties across Nigeria .There is need to Promote collaboration between private, public, and social sectors with a view to ensuring a commercially viable investments with positive returns and minimise government’s action to streamline implementation,’’ he said.
He reiterated Federal Government’s aspirations to grow oil and gas reserves to 40 billion barrels and 200 trillion cubic feet by 2020 and promote domestic gas supply sufficiency in the country.
In his remarks, Country Manager,Nigeria,Sasol Chemicals, Oscar Mdluli,emphasised the need for Nigeria to make the abundance of its gas potential centerpiece of its economic growth.He also lauded the roles the DPR is playing in re positioning the country’s gas secto
