Page 8 - AfrElec Week 39

AfrElec GAS-FIRED GENERATION AfrElec

NNPC compares gas flaring volumes

to domestic distribution

NIGERIA NIGERIAN National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) noted that Nigeria’s natural and associated gas
revealed last week that it had burned off more reserves amounted to 200.79 trillion cubic feet
associated gas than it supplied to domestic (5.686 trillion cubic metres) as of January 1,
industrial consumers in the 12-month period 2019, with associated gas accounting for slightly
ending in July 2020. more than half of the total. This is enough to
In a monthly report, state-owned NNPC said cover consumption at current rates for 92 years,
it had flared 600.38mn cubic feet (17mn cubic he said.
metres) per day of gas on average during the Despite the size of its reserves, he added,
period in question. During the same interval, Nigeria has long been one of the world’s biggest
though, it delivered only 490.21 mmcf (13.88 gas-flaring states. The federal government hopes
mcm) per day of gas to industrial users. to change this pattern, and to this end it has
By contrast, deliveries to domestic pow- established the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercial-
er-generating companies exceeded the volume isation Programme (NGFCP) and has developed
of gas flared, the report noted. NNPC sent 680.05 the National Gas Policy, he said.
mmcf (19.26 mcm) per day of gas on average to The NGFCP is designed to commercialise
the operators of thermal power plants (TPPs), anti-flaring initiatives by attracting investors to
it said. These volumes were enough to support projects that facilitate the delivery of associated
2,617 MW of generating capacity, it added. gas to the domestic market, he noted.
The company’s report was published around Sylva was speaking shortly before NNPC
the same time that Timipre Sylva, Nigeria’s Min- announced that it had struck a deal with a local
ister of State for Petroleum Resources, declared firm, Sterling Exploration and Energy Produc-
that the federal government remained commit- tion Co. (SEEPCO), on the extraction and com-
ted to ending all associated gas flaring by the end mercialisation of associated gas from the licence
of next year. area known as Oil Mining Lease (OML) 143.™
Speaking during an online conference, Sylva

South Africa pledges support for

Mozambican LNG projects

SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH Africa’s Deputy Minister of Trade, natural gas [LNG] project in the Cabo Delgado
Industry and Competition Nomalungelo Gina province,” she said.
said earlier this week that her country was com- South Africa aims to support these gas pro-
mitted to supporting natural gas development jects by helping Mozambique to expand its infra-
efforts in neighbouring Mozambique. structure network, Gina said. To date, she stated,
Speaking during a virtual seminar on trade the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA)
and investment in southern Africa, Gina pointed has committed to providing $120mn in funding
out that the two countries already had strong ties for Mozambican infrastructure initiatives. Pub-
to each other. “South Africa is one of Mozam- lic and private-sector firms from South Africa
bique’s great and major trading partners and is are playing an active role in this “very important
also a major investor in Mozambique,” she was venture,” she said.
quoted as saying by Devdiscourse. “It is also DBSA is not the only South African institu-
among South Africa’s top five trading partners tion involved in Mozambique, she added. She
in Africa. Our political and economic relations noted that two private South African banks,
have remained strong and vibrant over the years.” Standard Merchant Bank and Rand Merchant
She also noted that Mozambique had high Bank, had joined the group of banks that had lent
hopes for the development of its offshore gas nearly $15bn to Mozambique LNG, the Total-led
reserves. “As we all know, Mozambique’s new consortium that will use gas from the offshore
growth opportunity is anchored on the large Area 1 as feedstock for its LNG plant.™
natural gas reserves and the associated liquefied

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 39 01•October•2020