Buhari woos buyers to Nigeria’s gas market
‘…Nigeria, hub of gas supply in West Africa’
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IRAN: PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has disclosed that Nigeria remains the centre of natural gas supply in the West African sub region, thus necessitating the need for the international community to tap into the country’s gas development.
To justify this claim, Buhari said that the country had constructed 681-kilometre West African Gas Pipeline which currently supplies gas to neighbouring countries which included Benin, Togo and Ghana.
“Nigeria is among the world’s top five exporters of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and we recently celebrated the 3000th export cargo milestone,” the President said. “Similarly, we have asserted regional prominence by becoming the hub for natural gas supply in the West African sub-region through our leadership role in the development of the 681km West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) which currently transmits gas from Nigeria to neighbouring countries of Benin, Togo and Ghana.’’
The President made the disclosure on Monday at the 3rd summit of Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Tehran, the capital of Iran.
Buhari told the gathering of fellow gas producing countries that Nigeria had, for decades, devoted its time on crude oil – like other oil producing nations – but now it had taken relevant measures to turn the abundant gas resources available into veritable catalyst for development.
“Our current National Proven Gas Reserve Base is 188 Trillion Cubic Feet,” he told his listeners, adding: “But our actual gas potential may be in excess of 600 Trillion Cubic Feet.”
The President added: “With this great potential, Nigeria is taking appropriate steps to turn its abundant gas resources into veritable catalyst for development.’’
While appealing to those present at the forum to ensure technical and economic cooperation among member states, Buhari said that the steps being taken by Nigeria were because natural gas was fast evolving as the fuel of choice for sustainable development.
This, he further said, was in view of the natural gas impressive suitability for environmental protection and lower cost of supply in comparison with fossil fuels.
The President urged the leadership of the GECF to ensure sustainability of the pricing of gas at the international market for the benefit of member countries, adding that in order to ensure investments in current and future natural gas projects, the stability of the energy and financial market was critical.
