By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
The Federal Government has announced plans to review existing policies in order to favour gas development and attract more investments.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, made the announcement during a meeting with top executives of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Nigeria, who recently visited him in his Abuja office.
Ekpo, who said that Nigeria was richly endowed with gas resources, also noted that the country is in need of serious and committed investors in order to develop its natural gas reserves for national prosperity.
In his own words, “Nigeria needs serious and committed investors in the gas sector to embark on this journey together as the government is poised to reform existing policies to favour gas development.
“I want to state that the Federal Government is ready to meet all stakeholders on a round table so that we can discuss the way forward for investments in the Nigeria gas sector.”
He assured the visiting Shell delegation that the Federal Government is giving top priority to the gas sector given its potential to drive energy security and the economy in all aspects.
According to him, focus would be given to promoting the gas value chain and making gas available as a source of fuel to the auto, power, and industrial consumers, and serious investors are needed to actualize this vision.
The Senior Vice President of Shell, Marno De Jong, said that the Company was already working on studies related to the growth of its gas subsidiary Shell Energy, adding that various Shell personnel were already assisting the government in numerous capacities, one of which is the Decade of Gas Secretariat that is being headed by a Shell staff.
