Stakeholders call for incentives to increase investment in gas infrastructure, others

Stakeholders in the country’s oil and gas sector have urged the Federal Government to initiate appropriate incentives to attract more investment in gas sector.

They emphasised the need to provide securities on return on investment, policies consistency, and others as the means to reap the many fortunes imbibed in the gas industry.

These were some of the issues raised at a briefing hosted by Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), in Lagos to announce the Oloibiri Lecture Series & Energy Forum (OLEF 2017), slated for March 02, 2017.

Speaking at the briefing, Nigeria Council Chairman, SPE, Dr. Saka Matemilola, stated that the country is running at a loss owing to low incentives in the gas business, which remains a hub in Nigeria.   

According to him, “for the infrastructure, you need to know how much gas is available. For you to be sure that there is sufficient gas to meet the economy demand.

To make the economy high aid sufficient volume to grow into that pipeline, so by the time they are able to recoup whatever investment is made in that pipeline.

“It is also important we have companies that will recoup the sector; we only have gas here, so they can just pipe it down through that same infrastructure. But it has to make economic sense.

“The problem is that, for pricing the people who are willing to invest is not encouraged by the economies.”
 
He argued that Nigeria banks do not have the capacity to cover investment in the sector, adding that, “It will take billions of dollars to put into the gas business, which the Nigeria banks don’t have. Investors want security of their funds and our environment does not provide that opportunity.
“Again if it is domestic, the person that would want to buy the gas will not want to buy it above a certain cap. The issues are quite much.  

He explained that the Federal government lacks fund to develop the decay in infrastructure. “If I may ask, does the government have to money to develop infrastructures in the gas sector? Because there are many pressing needs that funds can solve like Health and education. 

He hinted that the petroleum policy is such that has no clear direction for the gas industry, saying “The way it is now in the petroleum policy, it is such that they are not clear yet of what they want to do with gas policy. All the promises to enable achieved the goals is not stated or clear.”