Nigerian government says Savannah Energy, the British independent energy company with focus around delivering “projects that matter” has done substantially well in terms of investment in the country’s energy sector, and this is while encouraging the company to sustain the tempo.
Nigeria’s Minister of State, Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, made the commendation during a recent visit to the Uquo gas Central Processing Facility in Akwa Ibom State, which is owned by Accugas Limited, a subsidiary of Savannah. He said that Savannah’s substantial investment to date has helped in boosting domestic gas supply in the country, as the company currently supplies approximately 20% of gas thereby enabling generation capacity for the country’s thermal power generation stations.
Commenting on the importance of gas to the Nigerian economy, the Minister stated that the country’s determination to ensure development of the gas sector, now seen as the only veritable driver of the Nigerian economy cannot be taken for nothing. He said: “The President is very intentional and strategic about developing the gas sector to drive the economy of this nation. We know that if the economy of Nigeria is driven by gas, it will make things easier and that is the target of the ‘Decade of Gas’ initiative. Our target is to make sure that by 2030, the Nigerian economy will be driven by gas.”
The Managing Director of Savannah Energy, Nigeria, Pade Durotoye, who accompanied the Minister on the Uquo visit, explained that the company, through Accugas Limited, has invested over US$1.6 billion in gas processing and transportation infrastructure to support the domestic market since 2014. Durotoye said: “Accugas is also investing an additional US$45m in a new compression system at the Uquo facility that will allow the company to continue to provide reliable gas supplies to customers for years to come. The system comprises two parallel trains with a capacity of 160 MMscfpd each and is designed to increase the gas export pressure. The project is expected to be completed and operational later this year.”
Adding that Savannah strongly supports Government’s adoption of natural gas as a transition fuel in Nigeria’s net-zero pathway, particularly for power generation, which he also saw as reason why Accugas has invested in building a nameplate 200 MMscfpd gas processing facility, supported by a ~260km gas pipeline network solely for the domestic market.
He said that his company has always concentrated on producing gas for domestic consumption, as about 80% of the company’s daily production was sold to thermal power generation companies, with the balance distributed to reach a large number of its industrial customers – like the cement producers, where, for example, Accugas provides about 10% of the country’s cement production.