Date Published: 08/27/10
Alison-Madueke Unfolds Three-Step Action Plan to Boost Gas to Power Supply
The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has unveiled a
3-step action plan aimed at ensuring that all the power plants that are billed
to come on stream in the future get adequate gas supply to fire them with a view
to meeting the Federal Government’s target of providing stable electricity to
Nigerians within the next few years.
The Minister disclosed the 3-step action plan on Thursday while delivering a
goodwill message at the launch of the Roadmap for Power Sector Reform in
Nigeria.
She listed the 3-step action plan to include immediate delivery of gas projects,
consolidation of end-to-end connection of gas pipelines and expansion of
pipelines with emphasis on the Ob-Ob and the Escravos-Lagos link.
She explained that the action plan is geared towards ensuring that every bit of
gas is effectively transported from where it is produced to where it is needed.
Alison-Madueke who put the gas need to sustain power generation in the country
by 2013 at three billion standard cubic feet per day (3 billion scf/d) said
there was need to redouble effort to meet the target.
Besides the 3-point action plan which she promised to pursue aggressively, the
Minister said the ministry had earlier secured Presidential approval for new gas
pricing regimes for the power and manufacturing sectors to boost investors’ confidence in the gas sector.
While congratulating President Goodluck Jonathan and the Presidential Task Force
on Power for the launch of the Power Sector Reform Roadmap, Alison-Madueke
expressed optimism that the projected three billion standard cubic feet per day
of gas demand for 2013 would be met, adding that currently all Power Holding
Company of Nigeria, PHCN, gas-based power plants are being supplied with
adequate gas.
Meanwhile, President Jonathan has pledged the commitment of his administration
to a comprehensive reform of the power sector beginning with the reconstitution
of the board of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, promising
to send the names of his nominees to the National Assembly next week.
He said plans for the unbundling of the PHCN as stipulated in the Power Sector
Reform Act and the introduction of a new tariff system that would boost
investors’ confidence without adversely affecting the common man were at an
advance stage, adding that the sum of N57b has been released to settle the
monetization arrears of PHCN staff who recently went on strike in protest of
their exclusion from the monetization policy.
NNPC News
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