In a bid to solve the problem of insufficient gas supply to the power sector, federal government has disclosed that a projected additional 295mscf of gas would be available by June 2014 and another 370 mscf by the end of the year.
Revealing this at a news conference recently, the Minister of Power, Prof. Chindeu Nebo, said in order to actualise the generation targets provided in the strategic plan for the power sector, President Goodluck Jonathan, had also recently approved the reconstitution of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Gas to Power (IMCGP).
He said the Committee would be charged with responsibility of identifying and ensuring that all the enablers and interventions required to deliver adequate power to the nation’s power plants were delivered on time.
“The Committee would also align the projections of generation capacity with the required projects, investments and other conditions precedent required to deliver the necessary quality and quantity of gas,” he said.
The minister also informed that the issue of security of pipelines was receiving the attention of the highest level of government.
He said it was in this regard that President Jonathan recently pledged a sum of $1billion towards addressing the challenge of vandalisation of pipelines and theft of crude oil.
“I am confident that the strategies being proffered by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, the IOCs and other security agencies would significantly curtail such occurrences.”
He also disclosed that in order to address the post-privatization challenges that may arise, Vice President Muhammad NamadiSambo had recently inaugurated a standing Committee under the Chairmanship of the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Amb. GodknowsIgali.
He said this committee would address issues of sector liquidity, legacy debt overhang, metering gap and so on.
