According to the latest data from the Department of Petroleum resources, Nigeria's gas reserve life index stands at 79 years as of January 1, 2015, The Punch reports. Out of this figure, some volumes are said to stranded or not developed. The country is also said to have 188 trillion cubic feet in gas reserves as of January 1 this year.
The Deputy Director, Gas Monitoring and Regulation, Department of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Antigha Ekaluo, disclosed this in a presentation at the 16th Annual General Meeting/Natural Gas Business Forum 2015 of the Nigerian Gas Association held in Lagos on Wednesday.
According to him, capital and operating expenditures are stifling the growth of gas infrastructure, as well as immature/sub-commercial domestic market, disincentive fiscal terms (high risk, low return) and absence of robust legislative and commercial framework for gas.
The existing legal and regulatory framework, written primarily for oil, does not provide robust technical and commercial framework for gas, he argued, adding, "There is, therefore, the need to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill into law, which will underpin the ongoing sector reforms".
On the strategy for monetising stranded gas, the Council Chairman, Society of Petroleum Engineers, Nigeria, Mr. Emeka Ene, said there was the need for the country to identify and secure its closest markets, develop an integrated flare-out model, recognise that associated gas was not non-associated gas, determine the size the process based on average throughput, and modularise the solution.
For accelerated stranded gas monetisation, he called for the fast-tracking of captive power, adoption of gas-powered public transportation, Liquefied Petroleum Gas substitution programme, and the implementation of pipeline network code.