By Eyo Nsima

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMD has tasked local and foreign investors to invest in the gas sector.

The executive secretary, NCDMB, Simbi Wabote, who disclosed this at the ongoing 2023 Nigerian Oil & Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF), in Bayelsa state, said: “Opportunities driven by policies, guidelines, regulations, and statutes are attractive to investors as there is clarity on the framework governing their business endeavours. Several policies have been formulated and implemented by the Government in their quest to stimulate economic growth and development.

“For instance, in 2021, Mr. President declared the Decade of Gas which among others seeks to stimulate the development and utilization of gas resources for increased domestic utilization and export towards generating more revenue for the nation. Other policies such as the automotive gas policy advocates for the use of CNG as an alternative fuel for vehicles and this have also created a vista of opportunities in the supply and installation of conversion kits in vehicles to enable it use of CNG. Several industries have also installed kits to enable their power generating plants to utilize CNG and in some cases, LNG instead of diesel to manage cost.”

He also said: “These policy initiatives have led to creation of several businesses and a surge in local utilisation of gas. For example, the annual consumption of LPG increased from 360,000tonnes in 2015 to 1.4 million tonnes in 2022. While this growth is commendable, it is instructive to note that about half of the local LPG requirement is imported. In addition, the consumption level is still far below the 4million tonnes consumption by the year 2025 as targeted by the National Gas Expansion Program (NGEP).

“These gaps in volumes and consumption spread present opportunities in local processing, storage depots, trucking, cylinders manufacturing, distribution pipelines, conversion kits, and many other opportunities. The Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) is another policy that is aimed at promoting the development and utilization of gas. It also focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with global efforts which are aimed at addressing climate change.

“The key thing to note here is that every policy, regulation, or statute holds an array of opportunities that can be harnessed and utilized to achieve significant benefits.”

“The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is another broad-based policy that provides opportunities for the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. The AfCFTA creates the single largest Free Trade market in the world for goods and services in Africa, and this has numerous opportunities including market, sources of raw materials, export of manpower, etc.”