The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will aggressively expand its domestic gas footprint with the delivery of the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS) II to double capacity from 1.1billion standard cubic feet of gas (BSCF) to 2.2BSCF and the OB3 gas pipeline to connect East and the West.
Group Managing Director of the corporation, Mallam Mele Kyari, made this known at the ongoing 4th Sub-Saharan Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (SAIPEC) in Lagos.
Speaking on the conference theme: “Oil & Gas as an Enabler for Economic Transformation in Sub Saharan Africa”, Mallam Kyari stated that the NNPC would commence the construction of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline in Q2 2020 to serve as an enabler to further boost the economic activities of the country.
Represented by the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Gas and Power, Engr. Yusuf Usman, Mallam Kyari stated that the recent passage of the Deep Offshore Act into law has set the Industry on the path of irreversible growth.
Mallam Kyari posited that Nigeria as Africa’s leading exporter of LNG and the 4th in the World after Qatar, Australia and Malaysia, was ready to capture more LNG market with the Final Investment Decision of the NLNG Train 7.
“Oil and gas resources have remained the major source of revenue that has kept the wheels of Nigeria moving for over five (5) decades. Oil, as we all know, has served as key enabler to the economic transformation of many nations like Norway, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and many other oil resources dependent nations,” Mallam Kyari submitted.
According to him, it is not a new story that most resource dependent nations rely on their dominant natural resource to drive other key economic initiatives and activities, noting that this is true of Nigeria and many other countries represented at the conference.
He informed that the connection between Oil and Gas Industry and the Nigeria economy was intricate, stressing that the state of every aspect of the nation’s economic and social life revolved around the hydrocarbon resource.
Mallam Kyari called for more hard work to diversify the economy away from over dependence on oil revenues in order to avoid the risk of market fluctuations that may impact the nation’s fiscal equation.