According to Philip Mshelbila, Nigeria stands to gain economically from higher international gas prices since it can take advantage of tighter supplies caused by the war in the Middle East.
Speaking at a conference in Paris regarding energy in Africa, Mshelbila, who was a former Vice President at the National Petroleum Company of Nigeria Plc (NNPC), said since the access to gas in the Middle East was restricted, there were prospects for Africa.
According to him, there is huge presence of gas in Africa especially in countries like Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Nigeria, and Mozambique.
In relation to gas deposits in Nigeria, these have been calculated to be between 209 trillion and 600 trillion cubic feet.
However, he revealed that Africa was only taking advantage of 40% of its capacity unlike North America and other countries.
“The reserves are there, but the production is not,” he explained. North America, especially the US and Canada, has already been making use of the situation.
The former VP advised that African nations increase investments upstream, expand pipelines, and build gas processing facilities and petrochemical industry infrastructure to grab a portion of the market in Europe and Asia.
The process has already begun with the Train 7 project, which is a $10 billion investment program by Nigeria LNG Limited, with an increase in its production capacity by 35% to over 30 million tons annually. This is part of the government’s “Decade of Gas” policy, which emphasizes the efficient utilization of its rich natural resources.
These investments will be made by companies like NNPC Limited, Shell, TotalEnergies, Eni, and others.
