Nigeria’s greatness lies in gas development - Egbogah

By Sola Oluwadare, Lagos - Updated: Tuesday 19-05-2009

A deep ocean oil platform

The Special Adviser to President on Petroleum Matters, Dr. Emmanuel Egbogah, has stressed that Nigeria stood the chance of occupying its deserved place among the comity of nations if appropriate measures were put in place to explore its gas resources.

He said the global energy demand would continue to increase and natural gas and crude oil would remain dominant both in domestic and international market.

Speaking at the weekend in Lagos, during the annual Oloibiri lecture organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Egbogah, who is also the Africa Region Director of SPE, noted that the importance of gas in Nigerian economy could not be over emphasised, saying the availability and supply of gas was central to Nigeria’s economic development.

This, according to him, was possible because Nigeria had the resources in abundance. The Oloibiri lecture was organised as a way of upholding the value of the first place where oil was discovered in Bayelsa State. The region called the oil-pot of the nation served as the source of oil wealth to Nigeria.

Egbogah said further at the forum that for Nigeria to attain its vision 2020, it must develop its gas resources in such a way that wastage would be minimised to a great extent, noting that the country’s energy exploration projection would be realised if concerted efforts were made by the stakeholders towards properly positioning the sector.

He also emphasised that the world energy demand for the products would continue to rise since a proper alternative was yet to be found. He noted that despite the economic meltdown demand for energy could not be tamed because of its relevance in manufacturing sector and other sectors of the economy.

“It is believed that world energy consumption will continue to increase because of the high demand for it. Oil and gas will remain dominant source of energy and will continue to play that role for long.

Nigeria has the potential to be in the list of top four gas potential nations in the world. Nigeria is well positioned to play a dominant role in global energy demand.”

Speaking on the market opportunities of gas for Nigeria, the presidential aide asserted that Nigeria had one of the world’s largest growing facilities which were capable of giving room for export business.

Egbogah averred that if carefully managed the country was in the best position to supply to West African countries and beyond, emphasising that this was the best way to affirm Nigeria’s position in the region.

He said domestic market was expected to see unprecedented growth in the next few years and one of the drivers of growth was the increasing proposals coming to the Federal Government from the investors.