ADIPEC 2023: Nigeria to roll out 2million free CNG conversion kits, convert 10million vehicles to CNG in 36months, create over 100,000 jobs – Ekpo, Minister of State(Gas)
Ekperikpe Ekpo served as a panelist in the session discussing the topic "The Realities of Africa's Energy Transition."
Oredola Adeola
The Nigerian Government plans to roll out over two (2) million conversion kits for free within the next nine months, convert 10 million vehicles from PMS to CNG in the next 36 months, and create over 100,000 jobs for Nigerians, affirming its commitment to making Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) the country’s main fuel for vehicles nationwide.
Mr. Ekperikpe Ekpo, Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), stated this during a panel session on the theme: The Realities of Africa’s Energy Transition”, at the ongoing Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) 2023 conference and exhibition in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas) who is the head of the Nigerian delegation to ADIPEC, said, “Our ministry is working with the organized private sector to roll out over two million CNG conversion kits for free within the next nine months to push the utilization of CNG as the main fuel for vehicles nationwide.
“This initiative is aimed at converting 10 million vehicles from PMS to CNG in the next 36 months,” he said.
Ekpo further emphasised that the key benefits of the CNG initiative include, creating over 100,000 jobs for Nigerians, increasing government savings from reduced subsidy payout for the importation of PMS, and reducing carbon emission following the utilization of clean gas to drive internal combustion engines.
The Minister therefore restated the commitment of the Federal Government in creating an enabling operational and fiscal environment to support investments in the upstream, midstream and downstream gas sectors.
He said the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is poised to promote business around Nigeria’s abundant natural gas resources.
“This is evident in the actions of Mr. President when he split the Ministry of Petroleum Resources into Oil & Gas respectively. This singular action is a testament to President Tinubu’s resolve to promote gas commercialization in Nigeria for export and domestic utilization,” Ekpo said.
The minister further listed several initiatives relating to the government’s action to promote and support the gas-based industrialisation and decarbonisation agenda with the cooperation and support of the organized private sector.
Top amongst these initiatives is Decade of Gas (Upstream, Midstream and Downstream); getting cooking gas to every home and CNG for vehicles; gas flare commercialisation programme and gas to petrochemicals.
The minister also informed the audience about specific policy changes targeted at the gas pricing regime, non-associated gas (NAG) acreage development, and a review of the terms of the production sharing contracts (PSC).
“These are all aimed at attracting investments of more than $20 billion into the country for NAG offshore and deep water (DW) acreage development,” he said.
“The ministry is working closely with her respective parastatals to get these reforms across to the upper legislative chamber for approval and subsequently for President endorsements,” he added.
Earlier on Monday the Federal Government reached a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the organised labour to vote N100 billion for the provision of high-capacity CNG buses for mass transit in Nigeria.
It also promised to provide initial 55,000 CNG conversion kits to kick start an autogas conversion programme, while work is ongoing on the state-of-the-art CNG stations nationwide. The rollout in the MoU is expected to commence by November 2023, with a pilot across 10 campuses nationwide.
