The Nigerian Senate has declared its intention to invite the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited to address the issue of insufficient funds for the exploration and development of new frontier acreages.
Jarigbe Jarigbe, the Chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Gas, shared this information during a press briefing on Friday, following a private discussion with Gbenga Komolafe, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, and his team.
Africa Today News, New York, has reported that the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021 brought forth the Frontier Exploration Fund, designed to bolster exploration and development within Nigeria’s frontier acreages.
These territories consist of regions like Anambra, Dahomey, Bida, Sokoto, Chad, and Benue, where hydrocarbon exploration has yet to begin or remains at an underdeveloped stage.
According to the PIA, the Fund, which accounts for 30% of NNPC’s “profit oil and profit gas” generated from various contracts, is designated to support the funding of exploration and development activities within these frontier acreages.
Senator Jarigbe said, ‘We received a briefing from the CEO of NUPRC and his team on the activities of the agency.’
‘Section 9 subsection 4 and 5 provides that the NUPRC should have a Frontier Acreages an exco account for the exploration and development of frontier acreages and that fund is subject to the approval of the National Assembly.’
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He added ‘Also, section 22 subsection 1 of the Petroleum Industrial Act also provides that the National Assembly oversights the budget and expenditure of the NUPRC.’
‘So, we had to interact with the commission on those issues and we discovered that there is no fund raised from 30 percent oil profit and 30 percent gas profit as provided for in Section 9 subsection 4 of the PIA.’
‘So, we also intend to engage with the NNPCL on that.’
‘We don’t know the budget because we weren’t given any figure. We will get details on that and get back,’ Senator Jarigbe added.
Notably, during the interactive session, legislators acknowledged the growing significance of gas in the economy, likening it to a resource capable of upholding a nation. They further observed that, scientifically, the world is increasingly leaning towards gas.
Earlier, the CEO OF NUPRC buttressed the lawmakers that ‘Gas is very crucial in the revenue generation of our country, just like oil, it is equally very critical.’
‘Aside from the fact that gas has been recognised as a transition fuel and for us in the commission, we focus on rapping up our gas production.’
Kimolafe stated that Nigeria has ’37 barrels of crude oil as it relates to gas, reserve number of 208 tcl of gas that makes us the largest gas reserve in Africa and the ninth globally.’
Furthermore, he asserted that Nigeria is making gradual strides in gas production, emphasizing the implementation of measures to boost production, thereby contributing to increased revenue generation.
He said, ‘From our dashboard, we recorded 206 tcl of gas last year, and in this year it grew to 208 tcl reserve as of September.’
‘In terms of production in 2021, we had 7.52 tcl of gas production, and in 2022, it declined to 6.9 tcl but as of September 30 this year, we recorded 7.07 tcl of our daily gas production.’
‘As a commission, we recognise the importance of gas to the Nation, and in our regulatory activities, we are giving critical focus to accelerating gas production in the country.’
Moreover, the chief of NUPRC highlighted the agency’s recognition of the changing global environment and the emerging events in regions such as the Middle East and Ukraine. Thus, they are prioritizing efforts to boost Nigeria’s gas production to foster enhanced revenue generation.