The federal government has disclosed that over $20 billion will be required annually in the next 10 years to bridge the gas infrastructure gap in the country.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, stated this at the inauguration of the nine-member governing council of the Midstream & Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF) in Abuja.
The council is in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Sylva stated that the move would help fix the critical missing link in the government’s effort to develop the country’s gas sector and charged the new members to work to mobilise funds for the provision of the critical infrastructure for the gas subsector.
The minister of state said that although the federal government had put in place several programmes towards achieving the decade of gas initiative and developing the huge gas potential of the country, the missing link was the absence of the basic gas infrastructure to help realise the objective.
He added that a key cause of poor gas production, gas flaring and low domestic gas utilisation was the gas infrastructure deficit in the country.
“It is estimated that more than $20 billion yearly will be required over the next 10 years to bridge these gaps,” the minister explained.
The fund, established under Section 52 of the PIA, is a directorate in the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
Sylva explained that as a directorate within the Authority, the fund would be expected to benefit from its internal reporting as well as operational and organisational processes, adding that in accordance with the PIA, 2021, the council shall supervise and make investment decisions for the fund.
