Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva has said that Nigeria needs over $20 billion yearly over the next ten years to fix gas infrastructure deficit in the country.
Sylva,who disclosed this while inaugurating the nine-member Council, said the key cause of poor gas production; gas flaring and low domestic gas utilization was the gas infrastructure deficit in the country.
He explained that the inauguration of the council was a further demonstration of the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to reposition the nation’s energy sector “to drive economic development and prosperity for our people, our nation and value to our partners, in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA)”.
Chief Timipre Sylva charged members to work seriously to mobilize funds for the provision of the critical infrastructure for the gas
He said a key cause of poor gas production; gas flaring and low domestic gas utilization was the gas infrastructure deficit in the country.
Sylva noted that although the Federal Government has put in place several programmes towards achieving the decade of gas initiatives and developing the huge gas potentials of the country, he however lamented that the missing link was the absence of the basic gas infrastructure to help realize the objectives.
He urged the members of the Council not to take their responsibilities lightly stressing that urgent steps need to be taken to bring gas infrastructure closer to “our people to enable them benefit from government policy in this regard”.
The composition of the council, according to the minister ,was carefully done in view of the importance of gas to the growth and development to the economy.
“The Midstream and Downstream sector is where the jobs could be created and value added to the economy,” Sylva said urging the Council members to take their assignment seriously.There is an urgent need to focus on the major strategic plans and key initiatives to enable government set a clear trajectory to achieving the noble objectives of establishing the Fund,” he further stated.
The terms of reference for the Council include identifying critical and relevant stakeholders that can increase domestic utilization of natural gas, LPG and Auto gas, and
develop a roadmap for transforming gas to a value addition product in Nigeria.
