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Gas As Ultimate Resource For Power Generation

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14 years ago

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Gas utility as a major resource for electricity generation is beginning to take the fron-tis-piece in Nigeria’s power sector. The product before now was limited to providing cheap energy for cooking but its necessity and impact in power generation has become so significant that the problem of regular electricity supply in this country can only be aggressively addressed with the use of gas.

There is increasing interest among Federal and State Governments as well as companies towards absolute utilisation of gas to facilitate electricity generation.

The Federal Government’s focus now is on how to increase gas supply to power plants in this country through the aggressive execution of the on-going 12 –month gas emergency time line to fire the gas-to-power scheme.

On its part, the Kwara State Government is already discussing with some investors that would use gas to generate electricity for the state. The Governor, Abiola Ajimobi acknowledged the importance of gas pipeline to the development agenda of his administration, when the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) led by its Chairman, Hon. Dakuku Peterside visted him at Ibadan recently on oversight function to assess NNPP facilities there. Peterside directed that faulty gas pipelines should be repaired without delay.

The managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Mutiu Sunmonu said Shell is taking adeguate steps to improve gas supply to power plants in the country, pointing out that the company’s Utorogu Gas Plant in Ugheli, Delta State currently products 250 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) while work is going on at a new plant designed to increase capacity to about 510 mmscf/d which will have significant impact on power generation.

While the Ministry of Power Resources, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), International Oil Companies and the Nigeria Gas Company (NGC) are making efforts to bridge the gap in gas supply, the Managing Director of Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), Mr. James Olotu says the delivery of the 1,025 megawatts into the national grid would be dependent on the availability of gas. He said that many power stations across the country are facing gas constraints which is being already addressed by the Federal Government.

According to him, Omotosho Power Plant has commenced operation and 70 megawatts added to National Grid through the plant, noting that in Sapele power station, only one unit can be fired, out of the three units because of gas constraints. With its unending complaints and sharp practices among the staff, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) is owing the Nigeria Gas Company an  over N40 billlion for gas supplied.

In 2010, government’s efforts at improving power supply got a boost with the commencement of gas supply to PHCN facilities through the NGC and via the Pan Ocean Oil Corporation (POOC), operator of the NNPC Pan Ocean Joint Venture. POOC currently supplies 50 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/f) of gas to the NGC from its Ovade-Ogharefe gas processing plant.

Pan Ocean managing Director, Mr. Festus Fadeyi once said. “We are very pleased that Pan Ocean is leading the flare-out agenda of the Federal Government and has commenced supply of gas to increase power generation to the national electricity grid”.

Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), Brass Managing Director, Mr. Vincenzo Diloriuzo noted that there is enough gas in the country to ensure the success of the LNG project.

Government has over the time showed lack of political will in the issue of gas flare. Gas flare has negative effect on man and environment yet nothing was done, it takes a strong political will to actualise the gas-to-power agenda of the present administration vis-à-vis adequate generation, distribution and transmission of electricity through availability of sufficient gas. At the moment, gas produced for local consumption has grown to 930 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) and power generation from gas is more than 1829 megawatts.

Nigeria is adjudged the world’s 7th largest producer of high grade gas with zero per cent sulphur and rich in natural gas liquids with proven huge reserves of more than 182 tonnes per cubic feet, so our gas capacity should be enough to achieve the gas-to-power aspiration of the Federal Government, and make gas readily available to industrial customers that should in turn generate accelerated growth of manufacturing. We have a number of oil and gas companies that control a considerable share of the gas distribution here in the country and generally the gas market worldwide.

Utilising such companies maximally will facilitate the country’s power projects.

Not just international oil companies should participate in the gas project but indigenous firms should be given priority attention or consideration. Gas to power distribution is the boost the country actually needs now and there must be a corrupt –free national strategy for managing the gas revenues.

In his Democracy Day nationwide broadcast, President Goodluck Jonathan announced the government’s plan to ensure reliable power supply through the judicious implementation of the power sector road map which is at an advanced stage to fully privatise the generation and distribution of electricity to all levels of the country.

According to him, his administration is committed to the provision of regular and uninterrupted power supply, which he said remains unwavering, adding “we all agree that adequate and regular power supply will be the significant figure to enhance transmission with capacity and accelerate growth. It is for this reason that I remain optimistic that the reform we have initiated, the decisions we have taken so far and the plans we intend to strictly prosecute will yield desired result”.

He disclosed that to underline this commitment, a special session on power was convened to engage Custain Construction Company in contracting for gas production and delivery to ensure enough availability of power.

The President directed that the power sector reform was concluded on schedule and that the privatisation of the sector will be completed according to plan. The privatisation process, he noted, has attracted expression of interest from 131 companies across the globe.

The Federal Government has a two-point approach to the power agenda which are immediate repair of power plants as well as transmission and distribution of infrastructure in the short term and the building of power stations and provision of enablance to attract investors. It is also committed to accelerating the completion of the National Independent Power Project (NIPP) while building about 4,000 Kilometers of transmission lines and hundreds of substations, just as the design for the construction of hydro-power plants which will add about 3,000 megawatts to the national grid has been completed.

The National gas Emergency plan has not helped the problem of gas supply due to poor planning.

One yardstick to measure the level of development of any nation is its power generating capacity. Power is a critical element as it drives growth and development.

In Nigeria, generating adequate power to drive the economy has been a nagging problem and the problem continues to be insurmountable as efforts by previous governments could not yield the desired results. The availability of reliable electricity power to homes and businesses of our citizens has been one item in our national life that we have approached with so much hope and yet experiencing so much frustration over the past decades.

In recent decades, subsequent regimes have put in billions of naira to reverse the neglect and mismanagement which has characterised the power sector. The President Jonathan-led administration has expressed the commitment to bring an end to the nation’s stunted growth and usher in the fresh air of prosperity by pursuing a new era of sector-wide reform, which is driven by improved service delivery to every class of customer in the Nigeria electricity sector.

This prompted Jonathan to set up the Presidential Action Committee on Power, which he explained was to eliminate bureaucracy and inefficiency in decision-taking. He expressed the hope that the power sector reforms would succeed like that of the telecommunications sector.

Gas fired plants had been established across the country, capable of generating between 25,000 megawatts and 30,000 MW and many investors have indicated interest to invest in the power sector, so the problem of lack of gas to run existing power plants must be resolved to ensure that sufficient gas is available for more power plants that are being planned.

Nigerians are complaining that in spite of poor power supply, they are paying high electricity bills and they are expecting the government to quicken the installation of pre-paid meter in every household so that people pay for what they consume. A good number of Nigerians are also expecting President Jonathan to make a difference and to be the first leader to permanently solve the power problem in this country.

There are challenges which if not properly addressed by the government could truncate the growth plans in the gas to power initiative which include funding, regulations, sanctity of contract and community issues amongst others. The government must look into them critically and urgently too. A situation where local finance institutions are not able to muster the finance for gas sector investment even after the capitalisation exercise is totally unacceptable and will not urgur well for the sector.

 

Shedie Okpara

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Oil & Energy

Resource Wars Are Here and Oil Is the First Casualty

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1 week ago

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March 30, 2026

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In just over a year, the world saw several instances of a choked supply of commodities indispensable for today’s economies and military capabilities.
From China’s restrictions on rare earths and critical minerals supply to the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, policymakers and analysts began to realize that the control of oil, critical minerals, rare earths, and magnets is as important as building and maintaining stockpiles of advanced weapons. It also became clear that without these resources, defense and military capabilities could be weakened. The actual arms race goes hand in hand with the new battle for the resources that underpin economic, manufacturing, and advanced military development.
“Great-power competition has returned to basics: who controls the physical resources that modern economies and militaries run on,” Alice Gower, a partner at London-based political-risk advisory firm Azure Strategy, told the Wall Street Journal.
“Energy, critical minerals and industrial capacity are leverage, not just economic assets,” Gower added.
The war in the Middle East and the blockage at the Strait of Hormuz laid bare the reality of choked energy supply. The world’s most vital oil and LNG chokepoint, through which 20% of daily global trade flowed before the Iran war, has been essentially closed for most tanker traffic for more than three weeks.
The massive supply shock, the worst disruption in the oil market in history, showed that the world is dependent on energy resources, and that geography and actual physical supply matter. With so much oil and gas stranded in the Middle East, oil prices spiked to above $100 per barrel, natural gas prices in Europe doubled, and Asian spot LNG prices hit multi-year highs.
The precarious situation in the Middle East is reverberating across Asia, the region most dependent on oil and LNG supply from the Persian Gulf. Asian refiners pay sky-high premiums for non-Middle Eastern crude, many are considering cutting or have already cut processing rates, and countries have started to enact fuel-preserving measures, from four-day work weeks to bans on fuel exports.
In Europe, the gas refilling season will be the toughest yet, as Asia is outbidding Europe for spot LNG supply after Qatar’s LNG is effectively sidelined and full capacity may not return for up to five years following Iranian missile attacks last week.
Even the ‘energy independent’ United States, the world’s top oil producer, is not independent when it comes to global supply shocks of such magnitude.
The national average price of gasoline is approaching $4 per gallon nationwide, more than $1 a gallon compared to a month ago, before the start of the war.
Oil is a global resource, traded on a global market, and prices reflect fundamentals, although they have been driven by hectic trading activity on geopolitics in recent weeks. But the fundamentals show that there is no resource available to plug the gap that has opened in Middle Eastern supply. Producers are slashing output due to a lack of storage capacity, which further delays a rapid recovery in supply when this mess ends.
All this goes to show that whoever controls the Strait of Hormuz has enormous leverage on inflicting global economic pain.
While the world is focused on the Strait of Hormuz, the race for rare earths and critical minerals continues, with the U.S. and Western countries scrambling to dent China’s dominance.
Since China restricted exports of rare earth elements early in 2025, Western countries have raced to create mine-to-magnet supply chains to reduce dependence on Chinese supply in the key military and automotive industries.
China holds a 59% share of the mining of rare earths, 91% in refining, and a whopping 94% in magnet manufacturing, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates.
The U.S. has responded by taking stakes in minerals mining companies, the launch of a U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve, known as Project Vault, and is leading efforts to break the Chinese stronghold on the pricing of these minerals critical for the defense and auto industries and national security.
Chinese dominance could be eroded, but it would take years.
Still, rising neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) supply from countries like the U.S. and Australia is set to reduce China’s market share to 69% by 2030 from 90% in 2024, Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) said in new research this month.
“We’re seeing a surge in rare-earth investment as modern technologies demand more critical materials,” said Jack Baxter, Global Metals & Mining Analyst at BI and co-author of the report.
“That said, we anticipate a significant shortfall in supply due to trade uncertainties, with lead times as long as 10 years to get new material out of the ground,” Baxter added.
“This will give pricing power to the few producers that currently are able to supply critical materials outside of China, fracturing the globalized market.”
Amid fractured markets and high geopolitical uncertainty, one thing is certain – the next arms race, alongside the actual arms race, will be for control of key resources such as oil and critical minerals.
By Tsvetana Paraskova
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Oil & Energy

Transcorp Energy, Renewvia Partner On Renewable Energy Gap

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1 week ago

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March 30, 2026

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Transcorp Energy Limited and Renewvia Solar Nigeria Limited have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly develop renewable energy projects across Nigeria.
The move is aimed at addressing the persistent power deficit that has crumble businesses in the nation.
The agreement also outlines a longer-term plan to expand operations across Africa, positioning both firms to tap into growing demand for clean and reliable electricity.
The partnership would target commercial, industrial and residential consumers, as well as underserved communities, through a mix of off-grid and grid-connected energy solutions.
Beyond electricity provision, the collaboration would explore the aggregation and monetisation of Renewable Energy Credits generated from the projects, adding a commercial layer to the clean energy rollout.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Transcorp Energy, Chris Ezeafulukwe, said the initiative aligns with the company’s broader strategy to expand access to sustainable power.
He noted that combining grid and decentralised energy systems would enable the company to deliver reliable electricity directly to end-users across different segments of the economy.
Chief Executive Officer of Renewvia, Trey Jarrard, described Nigeria as a critical market for the company’s African ambitions.
According to him, the partnership provides a platform to scale operations rapidly by leveraging established infrastructure and local expertise, while delivering cost-effective and resilient energy solutions.
Both companies said the agreement lays the foundation for a scalable pan-African renewable energy business, capable of supporting diverse markets and accelerating the continent’s transition to cleaner power sources.
The collaboration comes amid increasing pressure on governments and private sector players to deploy sustainable energy solutions to bridge electricity gaps, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and support economic growth across Africa.
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Oil & Energy

IYC Tasks Niger Delta Governors On  Oil Field Bidding  ….Decries Exclusion of Host Communities

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1 week ago

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March 30, 2026

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The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has raised concerns over the continued exclusion of host communities from the governance of oil resources, urging Niger Delta governors to take decisive steps by bidding for oil blocs and marginal fields.
The council warned that failure to act would allow external interests to continue dominating the region’s oil assets, despite their location within host communities.
Secretary-General of the council, Maobuye Nangi-Obu, started this at the stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited , with participants drawn from Rivers, Abia and Imo States, in Port Harcourt, recently.
“It is time for state governments in the Niger Delta, especially Rivers State, to form oil companies that can bid for marginal fields within their territories”, he said.
Nangi-Obu expressed concern over the reported listing of about 25 marginal oil fields for allocation, noting that many were located in host communities but allegedly being assigned to non-indigenes.
In his words “They sit in Abuja and decide what happens in our region, yet we are not part of the oil governance of our own resources”.
He explained that marginal fields, though considered uneconomical by major oil firms, remain viable for indigenous operators, adding that their allocation had continued to fuel grievances in the Niger Delta.
The IYC scribe also warned of the implications of directional drilling, describing it as a growing threat to host communities.
“There could be oil wells in your community, and somebody elsewhere could be drilling that oil without your knowledge,” he cautioned.
On environmental concerns, Nangi-Obu condemned the persistent gas flaring in the region, blaming both international and local operators for failing to invest in gas processing infrastructure.
He, however, commended Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited for its engagement with host communities.
“Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited is doing the right thing by engaging stakeholders. Not all companies are doing what they are doing,” he stated.
Traditional rulers at the meeting, further acknowledged improvements linked to the company’s activities in their areas.
The Eze Ekpeye-Logbo, King Kevin Anugwo, represented by Dr Patricia Ogbonnaya, noted that “aquatic life that disappeared due to pollution is gradually returning,” attributing the development to improved environmental conditions.
Similarly, Chairman of the K-Dere Council of Chiefs, Chief Batom Mitee, said, “There is now peace in our community,” stressing,  increased oil production must translate into tangible benefits for host communities.
By: King Onunwor
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