There are low-hanging fruits for President Muhammadu Buhari. Africa’s biggest oil-producing country can convert from oil to gas giant in the template of Australia or Qatar with the completion of several major gas projects scattered around the country.
The world is gradually turning away from crude oil to gas to drive their economies. Countries like Norway and Saudi Arabia, among others, are doing well because they have made gas a critical catalyst to their economic development.
These big-ticket projects are expected to create thousands of new jobs, spur domestic gas demand, generate electricity, create an opportunity to diversify revenue of the Nigerian government, strengthen the country’s revenue base and turn Nigeria into a dominant geopolitical player in Africa, using its gas resources, just like Australia, Russia or Qatar.
Some of the critical gas development projects include development of the 4.3 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) Assa North/Ohaji South field by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), a major momentum to the domestic gas aspiration of the Federal Government for increased power generation and industrialisation.
SPDC is also participating in the development of the 6.4 TCF Unitised Gas fields (Samabri-Biseni, Akri-Oguta, Ubie-Oshi and Afuo-Ogbainbri) in conjunction with the Nigerian Agip Oil Company JV while Nigeria Petroleum Development Corporation’s (NPDC) is also developing OML 26, OML 30 and OML 42 which is expected to develop 7 Tcf.
Other works include the development of 2.2 Tcf by SPDC JV Gas Supply to Brass Fertilizer Company, the cluster development of 5 Tcf of gas from OML 13 to support the expansion of Seven Energy’s Uquo Gas Plant, and the cluster development of the 10 Tcf Okpokunou/Tuomo West (OML 35 & 62).
SPDC JV also signed a gas supply and aggregation agreement with Geometric Power Aba Limited (GPAL) for the supply of about 43 million standard cubic feet of gas per day to support the 140MW Aba Integrated Power plant at Ossisioma in Abia State.
Other gas assets include Bosi, which is reported to contain as much as 5-7tcf of gas; the Nnwa/Doro structure reportedly carrying 6-9tcf of gas; the Ngolo trap (OPL 219) and Assa-North. Eni also just announced a new discovery.
“Some of the fields were discovered as far back as in the 1990s, and have been plugged after successful production test were carried out,” Charles Akinbobola, energy analyst at Lagos based Sofidam Capital, told BusinessDay recently.
Moving forward, ExxonMobil and Qua Iboe Power Plant Limited (QIPP) have initiated plans to invest a combined $1.6 billion in the development of gas and power projects in Akwa Ibom State. The initiative would see QIPP invest $1.1 billion in the building of a gas power plant with ExxonMobil investing $500 million in a gas project in the area.
Also, there are other gas pipelines projects such as Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben Gas Pipeline, the planned extension of the West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP) to Cote d’Ivoire, Escravos-Lagos Pipeline (ELP), East-West Offshore Gas Gathering System (EWOGGS), Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline project and the Trans Saharan Gas pipeline.
Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben Gas Pipeline, also called the OB3 Pipeline or the East-West Pipeline, is a proposed natural gas pipeline, running from the Obiafu-Obrikom gas plant near Omuku, Rivers state to the Oben node in Edo state which is also expected to increase domestic gas supply from 42.5 mcm (1.5 bcf) to 56.6 mcm (2 bcf) per day.
The West African Gas Pipeline is a natural gas pipeline to supply gas from Nigeria’s Escravos region of Niger Delta area to Benin, Togo and Ghana. It has an initial capacity of 200 million cubic feet a day (mcfd), which is expandable to 600mcfd.
Also, there is the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline (ELP), a natural gas pipeline which supplies gas from Escravos region of the Niger Delta area to Lagos. The 36-inch, 342-kilometre gas pipeline project is expected to double the capacity of the existing ELPS, thereby improving gas supply to Ogun State and environs and guaranteeing a significant improvement in power supply across the country.
Early this year, NNPC awarded the Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) contract for the $727 million Ajaokuta – Abuja portion of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline project to Axxela Limited, formerly known as Oando Gas & Power, and Oilserv Limited.
Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline is a 614km-long natural gas pipeline currently being developed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The pipeline will cost an estimated $2.8bn and is currently scheduled for commissioning in 2020.
The proposed East West Offshore Gas Gathering System (EWOGGS) Project being promoted by the Dangote Group consists of two 38-in, 550km pipelines, each with a capacity of 1.5 Bcf/day while the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline Project (TSGP) is expected to help Nigeria achieve zero gas flaring by 2020, although its currently running behind schedule.
While Nigeria seems to be dilly-dallying, Trinidad and Tobago is a good example of a country that has accomplished much with its gas resources. With a small population of 1.4 million and only 11 TCF of proven gas reserves, the country has developed a globally competitive petrochemicals industry. Today, Trinidad and Tobago is the world’s largest exporter of ammonia and second largest exporter of methanol leading to this industry contributing significantly to the country’s GDP
Australia exported more LNG than Qatar in November 2018 and April 2019. But now, the U.S Energy Information Administration (EIA) says Australia is on track to consistently export more LNG than Qatar, as recently commissioned projects such as Wheatstone, Ichthys, and Prelude ramp up production, which are all scenarios Nigeria can learn from.
DIPO OLADEHINDE
