Energy transition: NMDPRA committed to sustainable gas utilisation – official

TheNigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), says it is committed to ensuring the sustainable growth of natural gas exploitation and utilisation in Nigeria. Its Chief Executive, Mr Farouk Ahmed, said on Tuesday in Lagos that it became important that companies and homes key into gas utilisation as alternative fossil fuel. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ahmed gave the advice at a oneday stakeholders engagement on “Gas Utilisation in Nigeria”.

Ahmed, who was represented by Mr Ogbugo Ukoha, the Executive Director, Distribution, System, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure of NMDPRA, enjoined Nigerians to massively adopt the usage of gas as against diesel and petrol for their daily energy needs. He said that this would reduce the nation’s carbon footprint, tackle global warming as well as climate change. He added: “It will also help to reposition the economy for sustainable growth and accelerate job creation since gas is believed to be the future of the nation’s economy.”

Ahmed said that the essence of the engagement was to encourage large consumers of petroleum products to become aware of the comparative advantages between the different fuels, particularly gas, which he added had been designated as Nigeria’s transition fuel. He explained that to promote gas usage and investment, the Federal Government had various initiatives and policy frameworks which included National Gas Expansion Programme and the Decade of Gas Programme.

He observed that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA)2021 had also enabled investments in the industry. Ahmed expressed gladness that the government effort was yielding significant results, but added that more collaborations were needed to improve domestic gas utilisation. The NMDPRA boss reiterated that Nigeria was blessed with abundant gas reserve, enough to last the nation for the next 90 years. According to him, effective gas utilisation will make the nation become richer and the environment safer because it is much cleaner than other petroleum derivatives.

He said another great benefit of gas utilisation was the tendency to reduce the cost of doing business by 40 per cent. Ahmed called on heavy consumers of energy to convert their diesel generators to gas engines, saying that it was cost effective”.

He also advised consumers on the need to be properly licensed because of numerous benefits attached. These, he noted, include ensuring safety of facilities and regular supplies of the product from the authority. Delivering a keynote address, Mr Ogbugo Ukoha, the Executive Director, Distribution, System, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure of NMDPRA, said that many institutions were ‘heaviest consumers’ of diesel and been identified as operating outside the regulatory oversight, which is not in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). Ukoha, who was represented by Mr Ayo Cardoso, Coordinator, South West of NMDPRA, said the engagement was an enlightenment on the need to urgently obtain the requisite petroleum storage. Ukoha said the exercise was to take advantage of the evolving opportunities in the gas value chain for sustainable business growth.

He said the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) was designed to enable Nigeria to derive more value from its natural gas. According to him, Nigeria is embarking on different initiatives, projects and policies to enhance the performance of the oil and gas sector. He listed some of the gas initiatives Nigeria is currently embarking upon to include the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP). He said NGEP was designed to provide framework and policy support to extend gas supply and utilisation in power generation, gas-based industries and in emerging niche gas sectors. “Such sectors are gas in transportation, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for cooking and remote virtual gas supply using trucks to convey LNG and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to industries,”he said. He noted that natural gas was projected to be the leading fossil fuel and well-positioned as a sustainable fuel for an effective energy transition. NAN also reports that some of the participants called on the authorities to assist in making the process of licensing seamless for them. They called on the government to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks that hinder the process or reduce the cost of registration. Mr Oladipo Olatunbosun, National President, Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM), said that unaffordability of LPG posed serous challenge to the common man. Olatunbosun urged the authority review the pricing of cooking gas to attract more utilisation and penetration.

Energy Transition Plan, especially on the topic of low-carbon hydrogen.

Dr Chinnan Dikwal, Executive Vice President, African Energy Council also made a presentation on the opportunities and challenges to make low-carbon hydrogen a reality for Nigeria.

Dikwal said that Nigeria was well positioned to produce lowcarbon hydrogen for domestic use and export into Europe and Asia.

He further gave recommendations to help develop a robust hydrogen value chain in Nigeria, such as creating a H2 accelerator programme for startups and projects, co-locating H2 production and consumption in hydrogen valleys.

He included launching a hydrogen-centric regulatory regime to instill confidence for both producers and consumers of hydrogen.

The presentation was followed by a panel discussion, which served as a platform for Nigerian voices from oil and gas, renewable energies, public sector, academia, and NGOs to speak about their visions of a Just Transition.

Ms Gina Lagunes, Head of the German Nigerian Hydrogen office, in a remark said Nigeria, as a traditional fossil fuel exporting country with existing oil and gas infrastructure and knowhow, could use this trend as a momentum to transition towards sustainable energy.

Lagunes further reiterated the Hydrogen Office’s commitment towards providing advisory for the creation of an enabling framework for low-carbon hydrogen, developing capacity in public and private sector, civil society, as well as offering support to private sector and specific projects. (NAN) www.cbn.gov.ng

Central Bank Of Nigeria On Behalf Of Dmo Offers Nigerian Treasury Bills Tender Notice

Notice is hereby given by the Central Bank of Nigeria on behalf of DMO that the Federal Government of Nigeria Treasury Bills of 91, 182 and 364-day tenors amounting to ₦1,737,750,000; ₦10,116,400,000 and ₦119,606,141,000 respectively would be issued by Dutch auction on Thursday, April 27, 2023.

All Money Market Dealers should submit bids through the CBN S4 WEB INTERFACE between 8.00 a.m. and 11.00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 26, 2023.

Each bid must be in multiple of N1,000 subject to a minimum of ₦50,001,000. Authorized Money Market Dealers can submit multiple bids. A bid may be for authorized Money Market Dealers own account, non–Money Market Dealers or interested members of the public. The result of the auction would be announced on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. The Bank reserves the right to reject any bid.

Allotment letters would be issued for successful bids on Thursday, April 27, 2023, while payment for the successful bids should be made to your account with Central Bank of Nigeria not later than 11.00 a.m. on Thursday April 27, 2023.

The Bank reserves the right to vary the amount on offer in line with market realities prevailing as at the period of auction of the Nigerian Treasury Bills.

Curator urges Nigerians to cherish, patronise historical sites

The Enugu Curator of the National Museum of Unity, Mr Aloysius Duru, has urged Nigerians to cherish and patronise historical sites and monuments across the country.

Duru made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday, on the significance of the World Day for Monuments and Sites.

NAN reports that the World Monuments and Sites Day is celebrated every April 18, to highlight the importance of preserving cultural heritage, historical sites and monuments globally.

The day celebrates the unique and diverse cultural heritages across the world and encourages people to appreciate and safeguard it for future generations.

Duru said there was need for Nigerians to cherish and patronise the nation’s unique monuments and sites like buildings, caves and other tourist sites.

“As we celebrate World Monuments Day, I want people to bring out those unique monuments and sites in their places for the world to see.

“You could make economic gain from it as people come from different countries to see them and spend money on them,” he said.

The curator expressed concern that the only national monument in Enugu State, the Odo Okoro Palace in Ukehe, has been abandoned and neglected.

“The museum was declared national monument in 1965,” he said, adding that two other sites in the state are on the list waiting to be declared national monuments.

“They are the Colliery and Eastern House of Assembly and by the time we patronise these places, we are appreciating the efforts and ingenuity in building and maintaining them.

“We have different tourist sites in Enugu state such as Ezeagu Tourist Centre that could be developed and harnessed,” he added.

The curator, however, said that the Enugu State Government was not doing enough in preserving, protecting and revamping its numerous tourist sites and monuments.

“Some states celebrate one festival while others try to preserve their cultural heritages while here we allow them to die.

“They should embrace these things and develop them to generate revenue,” he said.(NAN)