The Niger Delta Power Holding Company, on Sunday, called for a rethink in the current practice of pricing domestically produced natural gas in foreign currency.
It frowned at the selling of domestic gas in dollars.
NDPHC’s Managing Director, Chiedu Ugbo, disclosed this at the 2023 Nigeria Energy Summit, as he explained that the recent unification of the exchange rates had led to a hike in the cost of gas used to run power plants.
“If we can find a means to reduce the cost of gas, at least for domestic consumption, that would help a lot. Gas should not be denominated in US dollars and then exposed to vagaries in the forex market,” Ugbo said in a statement issued in Abuja by the NDPHC.
According to the NDPHC boss, electricity producers need gas to fire their power plants.
“We should find a reasonable means to supply gas for domestic consumption. IOCs (international oil companies) have gas, but they are unwilling to reserve gas for the domestic market.
“I understand their position about the illiquidity of the domestic market, but there is a need for a good handshake between the gas regulator and electricity regulator, for us to harmonise interests,” he noted.
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