The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu has revealed that measures are currently being put in place for private investors to come and help improve the Nigeria’s gas output and supply infrastructure.

Kachikwu stated that in order to achieve that, works on new terms for gas businesses has already commenced in the ministry.

“We need to finalize gas terms. A team within the ministry is working very hard now to come up with gas terms and negotiate those gas terms with majors because if the gas terms are there, the investments will go in and once there is certainty we can grow those. Once we have parallel revenues that can come in from gas and some extent the petrochemicals, the reliance on crude oil revenue will ease, so gas is very critical not just in terms of our earning cycle but also in terms of our power mix. I know that the ministry of power is targeting about 7000 megawatts for 2016 and some portion of 2017, and stranded gas is key,” he said.

He added that the country needs infrastructure in order to get the gas through NPDC or third parties in order to have adequate gas to power the turbines and it might take a period of one to two years to get the country to that level, Energy Mix reports.

Anita Fatunji