The Federal Government is upbeat about converting flared commercial gas to optimal energy utilisation as it has confirmed receiving statements of qualification from a total of 240 firms that are prepared to key in into its gas flare commercialisation programme.
Rabiu Suleiman, Chairman, Ministerial Steering Committee, Nigeria Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP), who doubles as a Senior Technical Adviser, Refineries, Gas, Power and Downstream to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, confirmed this development in an emailed statement to BusinessDay.
Suleiman confirmed that the interested parties submitted their statements of qualification package to the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme.
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“NGFCP is very pleased to advise that 240 SOQ (Statements of Qualification) were received. As you are aware, a Proposal Evaluation Committee and an Independent Observer Group have been appointed and inaugurated on the 11th of April 2019 by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwul,” Suleiman said.
Suleiman said the PEC and IOG would soon begin their work in evaluating the SOQS starting from June, adding that it was expected that the results would be released four weeks after the exercise within four weeks.
He declared that the Nigerian government with Kachikwu as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources is keen on ensuring that flared gas translates to commercial use and better energy utilisation, as it keeps pushing for the companies to explore opportunities in the government’s gas flare commercialisation programme.
The federal government’s gas flare commercialisation programme is expected to unlock and supply 600 000 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas to about six million homes in Nigeria.
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BusinessDay findings revealed that the benefits of commercialisation are huge.
“In terms of development impact, the NGFCP benefits are huge, ranging from an overall inward investment of around $3bn to $3.5bn; a potential annual revenue /gross domestic product impact of around $1bn/annum,” Justice Derefaka, Programme Manager, NGFCP, told BusinessDay.
It would be noted that oil and gas firms operating in the country flared a total of 282.08 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas in 2018, amounting to a potential loss of N224bn.
As a result, Derefaka told BusinessDay that there was no going back on the government’s efforts to ensure flared sites are commercialised to contribute immensely to Nigerian energy needs and in line with climate change demands.
