Nigeria's gas reserves significantly more

Nigeria may be more a gas than an oil producing country as recent estimates indicate that the country's gas reserves could be as high as 600 trillion cubic feet.

The Special Adviser to the President on Petroleum Matters, Emmanuel Egbogah, said Nigeria's natural gas reserve could be at least three times more than the current 187 trillion cubic feet of proven reserve.

Delivering the lead paper last Friday in Lagos, at the 2009 Edition of the Annual Oloibiri Lecture and Energy Forum series organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Nigeria Council, themed: Nigeria's Gas in the New Economic Landscape, the president's aid revealed that according to a U.S. Geological Survey study, "the gas reserve potential in Nigeria could be as high as 600 trillion cubic feet."

No gas exploration

In spite of these huge reserves, there has been no active exploration for gas in the country, even as both the export and domestic gas markets continue to record significant growth.

Mr. Egbogah said: "To date, there has not been dedicated exploration for gas and all the proven gas reserves were discovered during exploration for oil. It is therefore, not unlikely that with focused gas exploration, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates of gas reserves can be realised. With current proven reserves figures, Nigeria ranks seventh in the world.

With a 22 metric-tonne total installed capacity, the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas is one of the fastest growing Liquefied Natural Gas facilities in the world, expanding rapidly to six trains since the first train became operational in 1999. The seventh train is awaiting final investment decision."

He went on to say that "In addition to the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, other Liquefied Natural Gas projects such as the Brass, Olokola and other 3rd party Liquefied Natural Gas plants are awaiting final investment decisions, which is dependent on resolving the gas supply issues.

The Brass and OKLNG facilities when completed, will add more than 30 metric tonnes of additional Liquefied Natural Gas capacity for export."

Becoming a leading gas supplier

The various ongoing gas projects in the country implies that Nigeria is on course to becoming the world's fastest growing Liquefied Natural Gas suppliers, behind Qatar. Thus positioning the country to play a significant role in the global energy demand and supply mix.

Also, from a geographical viewpoint, Nigeria offers a simple one-stop movement of gas and oil to North American and Western European markets through the Atlantic, compared to the more tortuous path for supply from the Middle East and the Persian Gulf states.

However, what might perhaps be the biggest challenge for Nigeria, besides the Niger Delta issue, is how to exploit the gas resources efficiently and effectively to connect it to the domestic, regional and export markets. There are indeed a number of challenges but the key ones are those of inadequate infrastructure and commercial framework.

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Harnessing abundant gas reserves