The federal government has urged the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, to be part of those on the driving seat for the success of the Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, project of the government, to ease transportation and cost of living in the country.
Minister of State For Petroleum, Gas, Chief Ekperikpe Ekpo said this when he visited the board’s corporate headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where he also hailed the board’s management for their intervention in various aspects of the nation’s economy.
Saying that 60 per cent of NCDMB’s investments are gas based, Ekpo advised that new projects by the agency should focus on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) because of the direct impact on the masses, especially in times like this.
He lauded NCDMB for the remarkable strides it had made in promoting local content and for constructing the magnificent17 storey headquarter building, which to him, showed the impressive growth and depth of local capacity.
The minister also spoke of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s unalloyed support to the gas sector, with initiatives extending to the entire value chain, notably gas development, distribution and penetration.
He listed some of the key initiatives his ministry is pursing to include investments in critical gas infrastructure development to support the transportation and distribution of natural gas across the country, promotion of domestic gas utilization for power generation, industrial applications, and transportation as well as strengthening NCDMB’s capacity to build capacity and enforce local content policies.
Other laudable initiatives reeled out by the Minister include encouraging and supporting gas-to-power projects to ensure a reliable and sustainable supply of electricity, expanding Nigeria’s capacity to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to international markets, to generate revenue and position Nigeria as a key player in the global gas market and strengthening the policy and regulatory frameworks governing the gas sector to create an enabling environment for investment and innovation.
He said Nigeria was endowed with vast natural gas resources of about 209 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, hence the need toharness the resources effectively to drive economic development.
In his welcome remarks, Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Felix Omatsola Ogbe assured the minister of the commitment of the management and staff of the board to supporting the Federal Government’s economic aspirations.
During the visit, the minister was taken on a tour of the board’s facilities, including the Technology Innovation and Incubation Centre (TICC) during which time presentations from three incubates on their technology solutions and how NCDMB was supporting them from concept to commercialization were made.
He also visited the NCDMB Conference Hotel project currently under construction, the NCDMB gas hub at Polaku, Yenagoa as well as the 10 megawatts gas-power plant, which supplies electricity to the Nigerian Content Tower and selected offices of the Bayelsa State Government.
