Abuja, Nigeria – Mediaage NG News – Nigeria’s Minister of State, Petroleum Resources and Gas, on Tuesday, while appearing before the Senate Committee on Gas, chaired by Senator Jarigbe Jarigbe, said vandalisation of pipelines within the Niger Delta is bringing down production of oil and gas.
He also said it makes it hard to meet up with production because when the pipes are vandalised, production will be reduced, as it affects the economy.
The minister revealed these while enumerating the activities he has embarked on since becoming Minister.
He said he visited one of the most important aspect of gas distribution, the OB3, to meet with contractors and “it was a good experience to obtain commitment on the completion date of the project. The OB3 he said is very significant in the distribution of gas from the south-south to the west and northern parts of the country. “They assured me that by December this year, the project will be completed and which of course is a livewire to the FHX project. It gets to Ajaokuta, Kaduna and Kano. This will give life to the power plants that are ongoing within Abuja, Kaduna and Kano”, the Minister said.
He said having visited the NLNG to check the status of train 7 which will add volume of gas production will be completed by 2025.
“We are on the path of ensuring that the projects will support the transition of fuel from natural gas that we are looking at and to play down on PMS in the process of decarbonisation and generation of energy with low carbon. We are projecting zero emission by 2060 and it has to start now”, the Minister said.
He added that there is 280 trillion in reserves that have not been tapped and an additional 600 in the deep sea and shallow water which he said can be generated with massive investment.
However, the presentation made by the Minister was considered not elaborate, as it did not contain basic figures to back the presentation.
Member of the Committee, Sen. Jide Igbishagba said the aim and interest of the Committee is to reduce the burden on citizens concerning fuel consumption and how much they pay to buy diesel or PMS.
“This is the time we need to improve and progress in terms of profit generation and Nigerians having a sense of belonging in the gas industry, he said.
“This will enable Nigerians feel at home and know that they don’t need to rely on only fuel or diesel consumption to serve their purposes but, gas inclusive.
According to Senator Ede Dafinone, he said “the presentations have little or no figures. It’s a high level briefing but, there should still be some high level numbers. Without such numbers, it would be hard to make clear assessment and have a good understanding of the ministry and what we should look forward to in the future”.
Senator Jimoh Ibrahim told the minister to elaborate more on the figures and said “this Committee is big enough to give you what you want. For us, gas is very important, even to the development of the economy and as imperative as it is, we also know it has its challenges.
“We don’t want to go into speculative ideas but, something tangible to work with. Come up with the operations of the last five years so that we will be able to know what areas need improvement.
Other members of the Committee in attendance include Senator Ade Fadahunsi, Senator Ezenwa Onyebuchi, and Senator Osita Ngwu who assured the Minister that they were not invited to the Senate for interrogation but, interaction.