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NNPC, biggest domestic gas producer – GMD

By BusinessNews Staff on May 9, 2014

The Group Managing Director, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, has said that in the last few years, the country has ramped up gas supply from 300 million standard cubic feet per day to 1.5billion scf per day as a result of the current fiscal regime.

This growth, he said, was quite impressive when judged by the global standard.

Yakubu, in a statement from the corporation, said, “As of today, the NNPC is the largest producer of gas for domestic use. The NNPC produces over 400 mscfpd and plans are underway to increase it by 250 mscfpd before year end.”

He also described the participation of indigenous oil and gas companies at the ongoing annual Offshore Technology Conference in Houston Texas, USA, as a big boost which had provided the platform for the acquisition of technology and diverse skills for local players.

He said the exposure offered by the OTC had made the companies better organised and more efficient.

He explained that the fallout of the regular participation of Nigerian oil and gas companies at the previous conferences had led to the massive acquisition of expertise in drilling, well testing, surface maintenance, drilling services and other contemporary technology that had taken the petroleum industry to its current level.

He said, “In terms of showcasing the gains of the various outing in the OTCs, the level of expertise and technology that our indigenous companies have acquired is quite significant.

“They are able to participate in virtually the entire spectrum of the oil and gas services. These are experts that were purely resident outside the country in the past; but from the fallout of our outings, there has been significant acquisition of technologies that have enabled our indigenous players to work without importing these technologies.”

The NNPC boss said a lot was going on to actualise the Federal Government’s gas-to-power initiative.

On the scheduled Turn Around Maintenance of the state-owned refineries, Yakubu stated that already, the NNPC had gone ahead to place order for some of the vital components of the Port Harcourt Refinery and that negotiations were still ongoing to ensure that the TAM was carried out as planned.

The NNPC helmsman said the Petroleum Industry Bill currently before the National Assembly was geared towards improving the business environment of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

He added that when finally passed, it would improve government’s take from the petroleum industry.

The statement noted that the OTC started 45 years ago with the aim of fostering offshore technologies and sharing of ideas on how to grow and develop the oil and gas industries of participating countries all around the world.

[Punch]

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