In the wake of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) N250billon intervention in the oil and gas sector, Stakeholders in the sector have called for more investments in gas expansion projects.
The Federal Government(FG) had in 2021, revealed that the CBN would provide N250 billion intervention facility for the national gas expansion programme aimed at making Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) the fuel of choice for transportation and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), domestic cooking, captive power and small industrial complexes.
The intervention had become imperative considering the prevailing challenges linked to gas utilisation in the country
For instance, despite the huge gas deposit in the country, Nigeria has had to rely on smaller African countries like Algeria, Equatorial Guinea and others to meet its gas demand.
In view of these situations, the CBN had injected the loan to leapfrog the FG’s domestic gas expansion programme, aimed at encouraging the use of gas in place of firewood and charcoal.
President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Dr Prince Billy Harry, said while the N250 billion funding made available by CBN remained an elixir, there was a need for more investments.
According to him, a huge gap still exists in gas infrastructure in the country, hence the need for more investments.
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Also, he stressed the need for the CBN to work with associations in the sector to drive the agenda of domestic gas utilisation, adding that the country has everything it takes to stop the importation of LPG.
“Nigeria has huge gas resources and should not be importing gas. I think the intervention by the CBN is commendable but more is needed. The infrastructure needed to unlock gas is huge,” Harry said.
While Nigeria is attempting to increase domestic LPG consumption to five million metric tonnes (mmt), PricewaterhouseCoopers’s Associate Director, Energy, Utilities, and Resources, Habeeb Jaiyeola, on his part, said it was time for the government to stop the importation of LPG, stressing that the CBN N250billion intervention remained a critical elixir towards the plan.
He added that if complemented with existing gas infrastructure investment like the AKK pipeline, the provisions in the Petroleum Industry Act and other initiatives, the country may be able to meet the local demand for LPG.
Amidst plans to meet net-zero goals as well as Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Change pact, Jaiyeola urged industry players to take advantage of the N250 billion Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) intervention facility to address the bottlenecks in the domestic gas market, while urging sustainable finance into the gas sector.
“The move by the CBN is laudable and the intent of the fund is also quite comprehensive and seeks to ease funding challenges for all players within the LPG value chain,” Jaiyeola said.
The Ministry of Petroleum Resources had earlier noted that the funding was critical to domesticate the development of gas resources and allow indigenous players to advance the sector.
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