The federal government has formed an Inter-Ministerial Committee from the Ministry of Power and Gas to propose long-term solutions for ensuring a consistent and sufficient supply of gas to electrical producing businesses.
The committee was created following a meeting between the two Ministries in the Office of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Gas in Abuja. During the meeting, Ekperikpe Ekpo, Minister of Petroleum Resources and Gas, described the issues that have contributed to the insufficient supply of gas to Thermal Power Plants.
He mentioned that these challenges include a decade of gas legacy debts, vandalism of gas resource infrastructures in the Niger Delta Region, and domestic gas pricing in dollars. Ekpo expressed his willingness to work amicably with individuals, groups, and agencies to overcome these concerns.
Since the fourth quarter of 2023, electrical producing businesses have been operating at less than full capacity due to a lack of gas supply. Last week, Bayo Adelabu, the Minister of Power, revealed that two of the country’s largest energy producing businesses, Omotosho and Olorunsogo power stations, were operating at less than 25% capacity due to a lack of gas supply.
The national energy infrastructure recently shut down, plunging the country into darkness due to a lack of gas supplies to generation companies. Nigeria possesses the world’s tenth largest proven gas reservoir, with around 206 trillion cubic feet (cf), but has failed to capitalize on its potential for power generation and other related operations.
Former President Buhari introduced the Decade of Gas plan in 2021, with the goal of transforming Nigeria into a gas-powered economy by 2030. President Tinubu’s administration intends to use CNG for transportation as a cheaper alternative to PMS after fuel subsidies were removed in May.
In September, the Presidency reported that the Federal government had secured approximately $13 billion in oil and gas investment from IOCs such as Exxon Mobil, among others.
