Nigeria aligns power and gas programs

The Nigerian government is aligning its power and gas programs to achieve optimum results in both sectors, the managing director of the state-owned oil company has announced.
Mohammed Barkindo, the head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), made the announcement after an assessment tour of the Oben Gas Plant in Orhionmwon local government area of southeast Nigeria's Edo State. The plant is operated by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC)/NNPC Joint Venture.

Barkindo said it was regrettable that the country's inability in the past to align its domestic gas requirement, particularly for thermal power requirements.
"In the past, the two sectors worked differently and the power stations were designed and constructed without due regard to supply of gas," he was quoted as saying. The alignment included the adoption of the National Master Plan, with a compressive infrastructure blueprint and the establishment of a joint steering committee.

Barkindo said the NNPC represented the oil and gas sector, while the power sector was represented by the nation's power company in the committee.
"So, what we are battling now is to align the projects and programs of the power sector with that of the gas sector and this will take some time. We are, however, on course to meet our target," he said. "Oben is one of our critical gas stations that are critical in the attainment of our short-term supply obligations for domestic gas," he added. "We are looking at the possibility of expediting work on the expansion program," he said.

The managing director said the Oben Gas Plant currently had a capacity of 90 mm cf of gas which, he said, was piped into the Trans-Forcados pipeline network.
"We are now looking at the possibility of expanding that capacity with additional 60 mm cf of gas," he said. "We have also discussed with ongoing challenges we are facing in the evacuation of the condensate emanating from the gas supply into the plant," he added.