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Production of natural gas fell last year despite an N250bn intervention fund provided to fifteen companies, The PUNCH findings have revealed.
According to an industry report from the Energy Institute in partnership with KPMG, Nigeria’s natural gas production dropped by 4 billion cubic feet meters between 2021 and 2022.
The country’s gas production recorded at 39 billion cubic feet meters as of 2012 was on a steady growth and had grown to 49 billion cubic feet meters as of 2020, suddenly crashed 45 billion cubic meters in 2021, and then 40 billion cubic meters last year.
According to the report, “The development happened despite a N250bn intervention fund by FG through the Central Bank of Nigeria, out of which N130bn was doled out to 15 companies for the construction of Compressed Natural Gas conversion centres.
“The NGEP was introduced by the Federal Government to make the CNG the fuel of choice for transportation and the Liquefied Petroleum Gas, the fuel of choice for domestic cooking, captive power and small industrial complexes.”
After the flag off of NGEP, the CBN also introduced the N250bn intervention facility to help stimulate investment in the gas value chain as part of its efforts at stimulating finance to critical sectors of the economy.
The fifteen companies- Dangote Oil Refinery, Nipco Gas Ltd, Nipco Plc, Hyde Energy Ltd, Lee Engineering and Construction Company, Pinnacle Oil and Gas FZE, Transit Gas Ltd, Almalgamated Oil Company Nig Ltd, First Modular Gas Systems Ltd, NOVAGAS Ltd, Greenville Liquefied Natural Gas Company, AP LPG Limited, and MOB Integrated Services Limited, Delta State Government, and Gas Nexus Ltd that received a combined N130bn, would on Thursday face the Senate Committee on gas chaired by Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe.
The summon letter by the Senate seen by The PUNCH, said “The invited companies are required to appear with their progress reports, stating location or projects and the current status of the projects.”
Speaking with The PUNCH, President, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Okoronkwo lamented the exclusion of his members from the loan.
He boasted that his members would have by now, converted more than one million vehicles to CNG models if they were included in the plan.
“None of my members got a kobo from the money. If such funds were given to the right people, by now, many stations would have commenced the CNG conversion centres and by now more than one million cars would have been converted,” he said.
As of August, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative said Nigeria required $20bn annually to achieve the desired gas expansion plan to bridge the country’s gas infrastructure.
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