TheCable

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has increased its equity in the Gas Aggregator Company of Nigeria (GACN) from 30 percent to 40 percent.

Mele Kyari, NNPC group chief executive officer (GCEO), made this known in Abuja, on Tuesday, during the issuance of domestic gas aggregation licence to the GACN by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

Also, Kyari said NNPC will supply gas to the domestic market to create a spark that the country needs to bring the revolution that Nigerians anticipate.

This, he said, was due to the realisation of the fact that Nigeria is a gas-rich country with associated oil and that the country has done very little about gas.

“But now we are ready for business and this business means that we have to create the infrastructure that will deliver gas into the domestic market,” Kyari said. 

“We have to create the market, and that can only happen if there is appropriate pricing for gas.

“We don’t want to enjoy anything except we have the right pricing for gas, so that people can pay their bills for the gas that they take, and we can produce the gas that comes into the market. Then enjoyment can come.”

He said Nigeria adopted gas as its transition fuel, urging operators to collaborate to build the necessary gas infrastructure, a market for the gas, and an economy that can pay for it.

On the licence to GACN, Farouk Ahmed, the chief executive officer, NMDPRA, said in line with Section 153 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, “the authority may upon approval of an application and payment of prescribed fees, grant and issue a domestic gas aggregation licence”.

“In line with the above, the application of GACN for domestic gas aggregation licence was approved after due consideration and upon the fulfilment of the requirements of the law,” he said.

Ahmed said the gas firm is a driving force for advancement and licencing would promote investment and transparency in the gas industry.