Nigeria needs N113bn to meet gas needs

Taiwo Adisa, Abuja - 19.12.2007

Nigeria needs $946 million (about N113 billion) to meet its gas needs, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Gas Company (NGC), Mr. Voka Mukoro, has said.

Mukoro, who stated that the sum would be devoted to two projects which must be executed within the next three years, said that the gas scarcity for domestic use would only ease if that financial obligation was met.

The NGC boss, who stated this while appearing before the Senate Committee on Gas on Tuesday, said the amount of gas available for domestic and general use was “far inadequate.”

Mukoro said during the budget defence session that the amount of gas available for domestic consumption and other uses was far less than required, adding that the NGC was only able to supply 679 million standard cubic feet (scf) per day out of the 1,378 million standard cubic feet per day needed.

While answering questions from members of the committee including the chairman, Senator Osita Izunaso, and other members including Senators Mohammed Jibrin, Idris Kuta, and Patrick Osakwe, Mukoro said that if the right fiscal regime for profitability of investment was put in place in the gas sector, funds could be sourced from third parties.