Again, NNPC Pledges to Transform Nigeria into Gas-powered Nation

*Lagos exchange plans crude oil trading, eyes 50m barrels annually

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) at the weekend reiterated its commitment to transforming Nigeria into a gas-powered nation, in line with the country’s enormous natural endowment of over 209 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.
A statement from the national oil company stated that its Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari , made the remarks when he received the Energy Times’ GCEO of the Year Award in Lagos.

Kyari who was represented on the occasion by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the Company, Mr. Olufemi Soneye, highlighted that the NNPC had been in transition since the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
“We are building gas infrastructure such as the OB-3 Gas Pipeline, AKK Gas Pipeline to deepen the use of gas in the domestic market, while we are also promoting the West Africa Gas Pipeline and the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline, as well as the Train 7 of the NLNG and number of Floating LNG Projects to deliver gas the global market,” Kyari stated.

The GCEO further noted that the NNPC was also aggressively expanding its portfolio in the power sector to make the company a truly rounded energy company.
“Apart from our stakes in a number of Independent Power Plants (IPPs) such as Afam VI, Okpai Phases 1 and 2 with a combined installed capacity of 1,420MW, there have plans to build three new power plants in the AKK Pipeline corridor Abuja, Kaduna, and Kano.
“The ground-breaking ceremony of the 1,350MW wholly owned Gwagwalada Power Plant was performed by President Bola Ahmed  Tinubu in August last year” he added.

The statement added that the award was in recognition of Kyari’s “commitment to accountability, transparency, and performance excellence.”
Kyari, who dedicated the award to all NNPC staff, thanked the Energy Times editorial board for finding him worthy of the recognition.
He added that it would spur him to work harder towards achieving more for both the NNPC and the Nigerian oil & gas industry.
Meanwhile, the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE)  plans to offer crude oil and gas trading to deepen access to financing for the industry, the biggest foreign-exchange earner for the nation, Bloomberg has reported.

The LCFE is working with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to meet trading requirements after obtaining guidance from the Abuja-based agency, its Chief Executive Officer Akinsola Akeredolu-Ale said.
“The consideration is that 10 to 20 per cent of Nigeria’s crude oil production be provisioned for trading on the floor of the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange,” he said in an interview, without being drawn on when it would start.

It will be the first time the fossil fuel will be traded on an exchange in Africa’s largest oil producer.
LCFE was incorporated in May 2015 and was granted full operating Licence on June 14, 2019 by SEC, according to the organisation’s website.
Its main purpose is to enhance the Nigerian income revenue source; create transparency, price discovery, guarantee quality and prompt delivery, put Nigeria on the global revenue map directly and enhance flow of foreign currency into Nigeria.

The LCFE will connect oil producers to local and offshore markets, curb default risks, boost product availability and encourage more investments, Akeredolu-Ale said.
The exchange expects to trade about 50 million barrels, which at current prices amounts to $4 billion annually, the CEO added.
 “This will afford Nigerians the opportunity to take direct benefits and further aid the growth of the capital market by trading on both crude and refined product contracts,” he stressed.
The LCFE, the report said, started trading in 2022 with gold. It has since traded more than N66 million ($58,000) of the metal through registered commodity brokers, Akeredolu-Ale said.
He added that a gram of gold coin listed at 42,500 naira two years ago closed at N65,000 at the end of February.
The bourse also trades agriculture products such as soya beans, paddy rice, maize, sorghum, sesame seeds, palm oil and cassava, the report noted.