The Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) on Wednesday revealed that more than 60% of Nigeria’s 200 million+ population suffers from chronic energy poverty.
In order to give Nigerians enough energy, the country must expedite the process of implementing its plans, according to NLNG Limited’s managing director, Dr. Philip Mshelbila.
Speaking at the ongoing Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES) in Abuja, he urged the incoming civilian administration to carry out the plans outlined in the current administration’s “Decade of Gas” agenda.
He said that given its abundance of resources, particularly natural gas, Nigeria has no business suffering from energy poverty.
Mshelbila urged significant investment in LNG, noting that the fuel and its derivatives hold promise.
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He said NLNG Limited has already done a lot to develop the product, citing the ongoing Train 7 as an example.
He said: “We need to move at a faster rate than we currently do. Other LNG nations are moving faster than us. Qatar is doing a lot. They do not have the kind of human resources that we have. We should do more because we have the people with the right skill set and commercial gas reserves.
“It takes much longer time for us to plan, get approval, and execute our plans. There is nothing wrong with Nigeria’s ‘Decade of Gas Policy’; It is good. The next civilian administration should not think of coming out with another. What we need is consistent execution.”
He added: “Nigeria’s population is growing, one of the fastest in the world, and its energy demand is also growing and we expect that in the next 30 years, energy demand will grow by at least 50 percent. Today, 60 percent of Nigerians are living in energy poverty and that is in a country that has one of the biggest natural resources of oil and gas on the continent.”
Story adapted from Vanguard
