FG reiterates commitment to domestication of gas

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has committed to the usage of gas by automobile owners in the country.

Speaking during a one-day public hearing on “Inclusion of Gas Terms in Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) By The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)” organised bythe joint House of Representatives committees on Gas Resources, Petroleum Resources (Upstream) and Petroleum Resources (Downstream), the minister disclosed that a task force for the job would be inaugurated within the week.

The Bayelsa State ex-governor charged the lawmakers to hasten passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) for a better oil sector.

He noted: “In terms of gas utilisation in the country, we are all aware that in December last year, we rolled out the auto gas initiative which we are actually pushing forward. Yesterday, we had a discussion around it. We had a meeting and during this week, a task force is expected to sit on it and come up with details of how we are going to implement the programme for Nigerians to use gas for their cars.

“Also, in terms of domestic or household gas usage, we are also pushing for penetration because we feel that a lot of usage is in the cities. So, we want to push for rural people to also use cooking gas.

“The general idea is to ensure that gas is pushed to the fore in Nigeria. All of these that we have discussed will not make sense if the pricing regime is not appropriate. That was why I inaugurated a committee last year to look at the appropriate pricing for gas so that we (can) have gas that is affordable and accessible to Nigerians. This committee has met. It is chaired by the COO Gas and co-chaired by the DPR. They have worked tirelessly.

“Tomorrow, by coincidence, they are coming to present their report to me, which will be discussed at the leadership level in the oil industry before we make it public. But in general, I am just saying that we, in the oil industry, are on the same page with the National Assembly in the push for gas in Nigeria.”