A new gas-based Industrialisation (GBI) policy of the federal government is set to generate massive job employment, according to experts.
At least 60 million jobs are targeted to come through its implementation, according to a study by experts in the
industry.
Mr. Louis Brown Ogbeifun of the African Initiative for
Transparency, Accountability and Responsible
Leadership, AfriTAL, while commenting on the initiative,
drew the attention of National Ambassador to a current study
by the Facility for Oil Sector Transparency and Reform
(FOSTER) on Co-location framework as a strategy for
gas-based Industrialisation (GBI) implementation that is
capable of creating 60 million jobs in the next 10 years in
Nigeria.
FOSTER is an international organisation that works in
partnership with national decision makers to diagnose
policy problems, develop public policy, support its
implementation, and evaluate its impact and by bringing
together national and international expertise, it helps
governments in these countries to implement impactful
public policy that will bring about lasting, positive
change.
National Ambassador gathered, that the co-location concept
is a practice which promotes optimisation through one or
more plants sharing mature pre-existing infrastructure,
rather than building their own infrastructure, or waiting for
a third party to do so.
Ogbeifun explained that since this is a new concept to the
oil and gas space, it is crucial for the country to
understand the concept of colocation strategy for the
implementation of gas-based industrialisation projects in
Nigeria.
He said the buy-in into the initiative by government had
become imperative as the nation today requires a radical
change that would transform the oil and gas industry into
a world-class energy sector.
Advocacy campaigns, he observed, have in part led to
many attempts aimed at reviewing Nigeria’s oil and gas
laws that would attract investors, allow the sector to run
unencumbered and improve its bankability.
He recalled that 19 years after the Petroleum Industry Bill,
which started its journey as the Oil And Gas
Implementation Committee (OGIC) in April 2000, it is yet
to be passed into law.
“In June and July 2017, the Federal Executive Council
approved the National Gas Policy and the National
Petroleum Policy (NPP) respectively. Laudable as these
were, they are yet to be progressed to the realm of law.
“In 2018, the National Assembly also passed the PIGB
into law. Unfortunately, the Bill is yet to be signed into
law.
In addition, the fiscal, Host Community and the
Administrative Bills are still within the confines of the
National Assembly. As this administration winds down,
there is nothing in the horizon to show that these bills
shall see the light of day.”
Ogbeifun stated that in spite of the reputation of Nigeria as
the second largest producer of liquefied petroleum gas,
LPG, in Africa, progressing her per capita usage of LPG
has been stalled by failures traceable to systemic
corruption, lack of political will to review and implement
policies, rent-seeking, entrenching the culture of
promoting conflict entrepreneurs, which leads to non-
bankability of oil and gas investments and projects, and
painful abandonment of projects, neglectful under-
development of the market and the oil producing
environments.
Nigeria, he said, is a blessed nation with abundant and
enormous gas resources that is capable of generating
massive employment that would ease the pressure of
unemployment on our teeming youths, but sadly the
country has not fully harnessed the opportunities
presented by the value chain of all the products available
within the oil and gas streams.
”Though the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has
done well in its quest to earn scarce foreign exchange for
Nigeria and launch the country into the international
markets, it has been unable to satisfy Nigeria’s domestic
demand. For instance, Nigerian LPG production was
estimated at 2 million metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) in
2016, but her annual per capita consumption of 2.3kg
remains lower than the West African regional average of
3.5kg and the Sub-Saharan African average of 2.5kg.
“Paradoxically, Nigeria is presently exporting her crude
and importing finished products for use in Nigeria. Over
90 per cent of her domestically produced Liquefied
Petroleum Gas is exported and, in return, we massively
import LPG for local consumption.”
Speaking further, he added that just like the petroleum
subsidy regimes became a big profitable venture for rent
seeking and highly connected Nigerians, the LPG
business is also encumbered by avoidable bureaucratic
distortions. He listed other pitfalls to include under-
utilisation of the LPG; lack of effective planning for the
use of the LPG; lack of political will and effective strategy
to formulate and implement a reversal of the current
export-driven LPG strategy to one of increased domestic
utilisation; corrupt practices; a defective LPG penetration
strategy; lack of enabling infrastructure; lack of effective
regulatory mechanisms; the persistence of giving priority
to Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) over gas as a value-
based energy product and lack of critical and mature
midstream infrastructure needed to achieve near-term
gas-based implementation strategy in Nigeria.
He said that given the gap, or near absence of critical and
mature midstream infrastructures, among others, to
support gas-based industrialization (GBI) project in
Nigeria, in trying to address some of the gaps identified
above, FOSTER, conducted two studies and recommended
co-location as an infrastructural optimisation strategy
that could be explored.
He lauded the strategy as being capable of encouraging
and promoting increased GBI investments by the private
sector; creating a vibrant value chain, providing
employment, substantially increasing governments
revenue and having the potential to reduce host-
community conflict in the Niger Delta.
“If the country must effectively implement the principles of
co-location, the press has to play a major role in the
dissemination of the advantages and workability to the
populace. They can only play this critical role if they fully
understand the concept and how it could help Nigeria
achieve her optimum in gas-based implementation. This
therefore, is one of the reasons you have been invited for
the training and dialogue.
“On the flip side is the worrisome phenomenon of
contestations, dysfunctions, skirmishes, stalling or total
abandonment of developmental projects intended for the
Niger Delta, which hitherto was ascribed to agitations for
resource control, injustices perpetrated by authorities,
unemployment and environmental degradation,” he said.
Also, speaking on the initiative,
Solomon Adeleye, a gas expert, said Nigeria needs to
create 60 million jobs in the next 10 years when the
unemployment figure is expected to hit 60 million people.
According to him, GBI will enable Nigeria maintain a
minimum three per cent GDP growth.
“Nigeria has the 9th largest gas reserves in the world, with proven gas reserves of 188 trillion cubic feet (tcf).
Little effort has been made in the exploration of non-associated gas historically.
Natural gas exploration was mainly undertaken by the oil majors (Shell, Chevron, Agip,Texaco, Mobil, Elf, Ashland, and Pan Ocean) with Shell taking the lead”, he added.
Corroborating their positions, Charles Majomi, another gas expert, remarked that co-location promotes the sharing of infrastructural facilities and services.
He cited the example of Warri refinery’s existing properties which include landed property, jetty facilities infrastructure, services and 125MW of electrical power plants.
Others are water treatment plants, two nitrogen plants,compressed air systems and wastewater treatment
plants.
“Opportunities abounds in the strategy. Government should sensitise the custodians of the existing hydrocarbon complexes, create a platform to explore the
co-location strategy and formalise engagement and alignment with interested stakeholders”, he said.
The proposed Co-location Roadmap, according to him,will include, but not limited to, identifying a potential
location for sharing of infrastructural facilities and services; liaising and officially communicating with the
management of the potential location; establishing the current status of each infrastructure and service and
completing preliminary investigation to include detailed audit and status of existing facilities, utilities and services to be shared.
