News - Nigeria Pledges Commitment To Success Of Trans-Saharan Gas Project

[TGD]

 PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, speaking through the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olugbenga Ashiru, has reiterated Nigeria's commitment to the speedy implementation and conclusion of African Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline Project, which started about 10 years ago as a bi-national project between Nigeria and Algeria.

Ashiru disclosed this Saturday at the meeting of the Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC) of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) on Implementation Status of the TSGP project in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

To show Nigeria's seriousness towards the realisation of the project, which has now being transformed into a regional project of African Union (AU) under the NEPAD for accelerated development of the continent, contract to commence activities on the critical East-West gas pipeline, axis intended to link local arteries within the country has been awarded in order to provide access to alternative and additional gas supply sources.

The sum of $400 million, according to Ashiru, has been appropriated in the nation's 2013 budget for the Calabar-Ajaokuta-Kano pipeline.

He said the pipeline will be the first direct activity to bring gas through the up-country of the project that will feed into the TSGP project.

Saying Nigeria attached great premium to the project not only as a means of strengthening cooperation with AU but also for the fact that it was conceived bearing in mind Nigeria's huge resources in oil and gas, Ashiru stressed: "The oil and gas sector as the mainstay of Nigeria's economy accounts for nearly 90 per cent of our export earnings. The country depends on this sector for its development and livelihood."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He added that Nigeria is convinced that the TSGP project is a move in the right direction and a fresh imperative to build more bridges that will cement African cooperation and strengthen inter African trade and subsequently, enhance its integration.

The minister noted that the significance of the TSGP lies in its objectives, namely, to diversify Nigeria's export portfolio, boost domestic gas supply up country, strengthen regional cooperation and accelerate regional integration. He also envisaged that the gas pipelines would be commercially viable and self-sustaining.

He, however, told the meeting that a 2006 feasibility study projected a low national consumption of gas. He revealed that it estimated the cost of the pipeline at about $10 billion and market potential of about two billion cubic feet of gas per day in Europe by 2015. Noting that of recent, there had been significant changes in both the local and international environment, which have impacted on the project.

On the supply side, national demand has soared to 4.5 million cubic feet per day, driven mainly by the power sector reform embark by successive administration to improve Nigeria's energy mix through the supply of gas to the populace and local industry.

The short and long-term demand in growth in the oil and gas market necessitated a major rethink of the internal domestic plans both for local consumption and the TSGP.



The Guardian