The Federal Government (FG) is expected to spend $3 billion on gas commercialisation initiative to create jobs for 300,000 people in the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialization Programme (NGFCP).
The expenditure is tied to the process for the 2024 oil bid round aimed at boosting activities in the oil and gas sector.
Government is offering of 12 oil blocks alongside seven deep offshore blocks from last year’s bid round.
The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, dropped the hint during his presentation at the inaugural NEITI House Dialogue in Abuja.
Komolafe articulated the government’s ambitious targets, revealing plans to infuse $3 billion in capital investment to fuel projects under the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP) and create a staggering 300,000 jobs.
Highlighting the potential socio-economic impact of the flare gas commercialization programme, Komolafe projected substantial benefits, including the provision of clean energy to six million households through Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and the elimination of 20 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
Additionally, hanticipated the unlocking of 600,000 metric tons of LPG per year and the generation of 2.5 gigawatts of power from new and existing Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
Providing deeper insights into the bid round, Komolafe detailed the offerings, which include six acreages on the continental shelf, four deep offshore blocks, and two onshore blocks in the Niger Delta region. He assured stakeholders of a fair and competitive bidding process, underpinned by stringent regulations aimed at ensuring regulatory certainty, dismantling entry barriers, and fostering global competitiveness.
“The licencing round that we are putting in place is designed to enhance the quality data set and it is going to be conducted in a fair, and competitive bidding process in a non-discriminating manner,” he said.
The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, noted the importance of the NEITI House Quarterly Dialogue in facilitating constructive engagements among policymakers from Nigeria’s extractive industries.
