AFRICA.Nigeria: Ed Ubong, the president of the Nigerian Gas Association (NGA) has advised the Nigerian government to consider the usage of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as an alternative option to deal with the challenges of power generation faced nationally in the country.
Ubong was addressing the audience present at an event organised by Nigerian Oil and Gas that was themed, “Harnessing Opportunities in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Sector.”
Ubong also assured the Federal Government (FG) that CNG is the way out and added that there have been drastic improvements in the sector in recent times.
Ubong added that, even as the scarcity of gas persists in the country, there is the hope of achieving something huge in the sector. Adding that by working on the decade of gas’ holistic action plan involving all the critical stakeholders in the country, the narrative will change, and the investment made by all will yield positive outcomes.
“We are making progress in deepening gas consumption across the country. The private stakeholders are doing their part as evidenced in the massive projects being commissioned. FG is also encouraging the adoption of gas, as shown in the launch of 20 gas-powered buses by the Head of the Civil Service to convey civil servants from their abodes to their offices in Abuja. There are still CNG input pricing concerns raised by CNG operators to enable the sector which needs to be addressed urgently, “Ubong stated.
Ubong also noted that Nigeria has been experiencing a shortage of gas for about half a year now. It has affected virtually all the sectors of Nigeria. including cooking, industry and power plant gas use for electricity generation.
So there is a need to speed up the activation of initiatives that are in place to ensure that not only the domestic gas needs are met but also unlock the exportation of gas to other markets. These will undoubtedly boost the national economy as they will serve as a major source of revenue while reducing our oil dependency.
However, the need for FG to speed up the clearing of the legacy gas supply debts in the power sector is urgently needed, as it poses a significant challenge in the developmental process. As soon as the government removes this obstacle, then it can hold private stakeholders accountable for the promises that they have made to bolster the sector with an improved gas supply, Ubong noted.
Ubong further asked FG to institutionalise gas-powered generator usage for public parastatals and private entities that use generators of over 250 KVA capacity.
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