Nigeria’s national oil company, NNPC Ltd, is looking to attract foreign direct investment from South Korea for its gas projects, as part of its efforts to boost the country’s gas sector and reduce its reliance on oil.
According to a statement released on Tuesday, NNPC Ltd’s group chief executive officer, Mele Kyari, held discussions with a South Korean consortium led by Daewoo E & C in Seoul, South Korea, on the development of greenfield and other gas opportunities in Nigeria.
The statement said that the consortium, in collaboration with the Korean Export-Import Bank, expressed interest in advancing the discussions on investing in Nigeria’s gas sector, which has been identified as a key priority by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Kyari said that Nigeria has vast gas resources that can be leveraged to supply clean and affordable energy to the global market, as well as to support the domestic industrialization and economic diversification agenda.
He also congratulated Temile Development Company, an indigenous player in the gas sector, on the commissioning of its 23,000 cubic meters ultra-modern Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Carrier in Ulsan, South Korea on Tuesday.
He said that the vessel named Alfred Temile 10, represented a significant stride towards deepening the utilization of gas in-country and growing gas revenues.
“It is great that Temile Development Company can complete the construction of the 23kt LPG vessel. This will go a long way in improving access to LPG in the domestic market and providing cleaner fuel in our country.
“Nigeria’s objective is to ensure that everyone has access to clean energy and particularly walks away from biomass as a source of energy. We know this is good and that is why we will continue to support it,” Kyari was quoted as saying.
He noted that NNPC Ltd, alongside its partner, West Africa Gas Ltd (WAGL), was building its vessels which will boost LPG supply in Nigeria to saturate the market.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer and exporter, but it also has the ninth-largest proven gas reserves in the world, estimated at 203 trillion cubic feet as of 2020.
However, the country has been unable to fully harness its gas potential due to infrastructural, regulatory, and fiscal challenges, as well as the dominance of oil in its economy.
The government has recently launched several initiatives to address these issues and unlock the value of gas for the benefit of Nigerians and the environment.
Some of these initiatives include the National Gas Expansion Programme, the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme, the National Gas Transportation Network Code, and the Petroleum Industry Act.
The government also declared 2021-2030 as the Decade of Gas, to transform Nigeria into a gas-powered economy by 2030.
The partnership with South Korea, a major destination for Nigeria’s Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exports, is expected to further enhance the development of the gas sector and create more opportunities for investment, employment, and revenue generation.
The statement said that the talks will pave the way for the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will unlock strategic foreign direct investment in line with the government’s policy of making Nigeria a prime destination for global investors.
Source: Business Day
