The Association of Local Distributors of Gas (ALDG) ushered in the month of June with the maiden edition of its webinar series. Themed; The Decade of Gas- Unlocking Opportunities in The Domestic Gas Market, the webinar brought together key stakeholders in the industry for an enlightening session.
The lineup of speakers included Engr. Yusuf Usman, COO, Gas & Power, NNPC, Audrey Joe-Ezigbo, Deputy Managing Director, Falcon Corporation, Olakunle Williams, CEO, QSL Gas & Power Ltd and Sumeet Singh, Director, Sales & Strategy, Powergas Africa Limited. The session was moderated by Olu Verheijen, Founder & MD, Latimer Energy.
In his opening remarks, Engr. Yusuf Usman called for the creation of a Decade of Gas Masterplan to complement the declaration of the decade of gas. This ten-year development plan will establish key timelines, define an appropriate investment strategy and make provision for infrastructural development Ultimately, it will ensure that the progress and success of the decade of gas can be measured. He also noted the importance of passing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) this year to provide the progressive regulation needed to attract investment in the gas sector.
Sharing insights from an investor’s perspective, Audrey Joe-Ezigbo called on stakeholders to envision the end; a nation that is fully industrialized, with in-country value addition and thriving gas-based industrialization. With this goal in mind, public and private players in the sector should then take actionable steps to achieve it. She acknowledged the progress achieved in policy development and sector-wide consultation under the current administration while calling for more decisive action that gives the industry traction as investors continue to navigate the challenges of multiple regulatory interfaces and the sanctity of contracts.
Anchoring his thoughts on energy security, Olakunle Williams acknowledged that there is a lot of work to be done to achieve the 180,000 megawatts required for the provision of secure, consistent and sustainable energy generation in Nigeria. He called for an increase in gas utilization and production to support gas-based industrialization and match growing energy needs for a population that is estimated to reach 400 million by 2050. To achieve this, he stressed the need to domesticate and localize infrastructural development and financing.
Sumeet Singh while sharing the journey of building a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) business in Nigeria, noted the importance of providing infrastructure that links different parts of the country. He revealed that their business model of trucking gas by utilizing virtual pipelines was conceived because they needed to move gas from points of availability to points of demand in the absence of infrastructure. He stressed that the country is hungry for energy from the common man to the largest factories, providing a gap that stakeholders call fill profitably.
Olu Verheijen in closing the session noted that the amount of resources we have isn’t what’s important rather it is what we do with it. She reiterated the cited examples of Trinidad & Tobago and Australia who are powering economic growth and industrialization with fewer resources. She called for a focus on creating a friendly investment climate, passing progressive regulation quickly and supporting local production as these are actionable steps within the reach of relevant actors in the public and private sector.
Thanking the speakers and the moderator for an enlightening session, the Executive Secretary of the ALDG, Oga Adejo-Ogiri stressed that the webinar was just the first in a series of conversations on topical issues in the Nigerian gas industry. He also expressed the commitment of the association in partnering with the government and other key stakeholders towards making the decade of gas a reality.
Recently inaugurated in 2020, The Association of Local Distributors of Gas (ALDG) promotes the interests of stakeholders in the Natural Gas Value distribution chain.
