With critical gas infrastructure  such as the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline under construction, and the expansion of the Lagos-Escravos pipeline to Morocco and further to Europe, in pipeline, the Federal Government of Nigeria has called for collaboration to support existing government initiatives.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, stated this on Tuesday at   the 8th Sub-Saharan Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (SAIPEC) holding in Lagos, Nigeria, with the theme “The Next Steps: Accelerating African Content”.

Represented by the Director of gas at the Ministry, Oluremi Komolafe, the Minister said there is a huge demand for gas in Nigeria, and the sector is large enough to accommodate everyone.

“The Ministry of Petroleum Resources welcomes ideas and ventures that could assist us bridge the gap existing between demand for gas and the low level of development of our enormous natural gas reserves,” Lokpobiri said.

“I hereby reiterate the readiness of the Government and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, in particular, to foster fruitful collaborations and partnerships that will aid achievement of the national goals for domestic gas utilization and export.”

Nigeria has about 209 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves based on 2022 figure from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). Lokpobiri listed tax waivers,  zero duty and VAT for imported CNG and LNG as some of the incentives provided by the government to encourage development in the gas sector in the country.

“As we gather to harness ideas to develop our energy sector, let us not forget the various incentives put in place by the Government to encourage the Gas Sector development.

These include 3 years tax waivers for Companies that build and operate gas pipelines, and could be extended to 5 years at the satisfaction of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, and recently Mr. President approved the zero duty and VAT for imported CNG and LNG.  This is in addition to the existing tax waivers on imported Gas equipment. All these are geared towards deepening gas penetration in Nigeria.

“The responsibility of developing our energy resources does not depend on Government alone.  It calls for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and commitment on the part of the private sector industry players too as Government makes the right policies and creates the enabling environment for businesses to thrive,” he asserted.

According to Lokpobiri, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources has identified finance and Investment in infrastructure as critical to the development of the gas sector in the country.

As part of the tools to address this problem, he said the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund was set up to enable government make equity investment in gas infrastructure.