FG Seeks U.S Support For Gas Development
The Ministry of Petroleum Resources, has urged the United States Government to support the funding of natural gas development in Nigeria as an alternative source of energy to Europe.
Currently, European countries are facing gas supply challenges due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva,.who spoke during a meeting with the US Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, on the side-line of the ongoing Ceraweek, in Houston, Texas said that the collaboration between the two countries in this area would be of immense benefits to them as well as the entire globe.
The minister noted that the crisis between Russia and Ukraine was a wake-up call to have alternative sources of gas to Europe , stressing that in situations like this, it was good to have an alternative. It is time to say let’s look forward.
He called on the U.S to support Nigeria and other African countries in the areas of funding and technology, stressing that it was through such collaborations that the energy transition programme could be fast-tracked.
Sylva cautioned that such funding and technological support must be made accessible to interested countries.
The minister’s Senior Adviser, Media & Communications, Horatius Egua quoted the minister as saying in a statement that, “It is in the interests of the global community that there is an alternative supply of gas to Europe. The challenge for us to achieve this feat has been lack of infrastructure and we need funding to develop infrastructure for our gas and we believe that the US can provide that funding.”
Sylva explained to Granholm that Nigeria had an abundance of natural gas resources that could meet European gas demands,.nothing that the problem had been accessing to funding.
He added that as part of efforts to boost gas supplies across the African continent, Nigeria had embarked upon the construction of 600 kilometers of the Ajaokuta- Kaduna- Kano (AKK) gas pipeline designed to take gas to Europe via North Africa and therefore, called on the U.S to provide the needed funding for infrastructure for the exploitation of the huge natural gas in Nigeria.
Sylva said: “We have access to gas but access to funding has been the problem. We desire to be able to take gas from Nigeria through Algeria to Europe. We have already kickstarted the AKK gas pipeline project and if we have the required funding we can complete that project in two years.
The minister said that Nigeria had over 206 tcl of natural gas reserve and unproven reserve of 600 tcl.
He explained: “We believe that if we target the exploitation of natural gas in Nigeria, we will be able to get up to 600 tcl. We need to have the needed funding to develop our gas and the US can provide us this funding.”
Sylva said for the energy transition programme to be meaningful, the peculiar problems of Africa must be factored into the entire energy transition arrangement.
Granholm expressed the readiness of the U.S to cooperate with Nigeria to develop her renewable energy sector, noting that her government was not against the development of gas or other sources of energy.
She said that the U.S government would be willing to support Nigeria in developing her renewable energy sources and therefore called for a coordinated strategy to pin down specific areas of focus,.where funding and other supports would be required.
“Investors are interested in funding renewable energy in Nigeria but they are interested in knowing possible areas of focus. We have to work out a structured way to access the fund” Granholm said.
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