NMDPRA – MAXIMISING DOMESTIC GAS VALUE CHAIN
Stephen Lazi Akhere PhD.
In March 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari bunched the Decade of Gas programme, an
initiative to transition Nigeria to the status of a major exporter of gas.
The Federal Governm ent’s policy aims to exploit its vast gas reserves to ensure that Nigeria is
not just a consuming nation but a big player on the international scene. The ini – tiative, coming
on the heels of the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP), which seeks to expan d
domestic use of LPG, autogas and energy penetration, is one of the ley strategies the Buhari
administration hopes to apply in ensuring the optimal maximization of Nigerial oil and gas
resources.
At the World Gas Conference, which was held in South Kores, discussions were held between
Nigerian government officials and a foreign firm about the possibility of signing an agreement to
construct an LPG vessel to boost the supply of LPG in the country.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory A uthority (NMDPRA) as the
regulatory agency of the midstream and downstream sectors of the Nigerian petroleum industry,
is fine -tuning strategies to actualize the decade of gas policy. One of these strategies is the
formulation of policies that bring into a lignment the key objectives of the Nigerian government
with the existing capacities within the sector.
Engr. Farouk A. Ahmed, Authority Chief Executive (ACE) of NMDPRA, says the Authority, as
stipulated by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), has unfolded 10 draft regulations to be released
late: The regulations, drafted in consultation with industry stakeholders were later reviewed at a
four-day workshop.
Speaking at the review of the regulations, Engr. Ahmed said the priority of the NMDPRA, will
be to ensure these regulations are primary enablers of the Federal Government’s “Decade of Gas
initiative and will help catalyse investment and enhance the attractiveness of the domestic gas
value chain’.
Chairman of the Governing Board of NMDPRA, Mr. Idaere Ogan, sai d the Auth ority is willing
to actively involve stakeholders before churning out regulations.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, who decried the poor
situation of the petroleum industry, said: “Whilst noting that the current state of our local energy
landscape is dire and is in need of ingenious solutions, we have an opportunity to ameliorate the
situation through these sets of regulatory instruments.
The Minister further said being the first stakeholders’ consultation by NMD PRA, the regulatory
instruments will meet present and future aspirations of the government for more investments in
the sector.
Speaking for the Senate Committee on Downstream, Senator Philip Aduda, said these secondary
regulations will complement the PIA in unlocking the potential of the sector.
Three syndicate groups reviewed the draft regulations and presented feedback.
