The Nigerian flag: flutters in the wind
Nigeria to bump up domestic gas supply
Opec-member Nigeria plans to add 5 billion cubic feet per day to domestic gas supply by 2013, the managing director of the country's state oil company NNPC said today.
Africa's largest oil producer suffers chronic power shortages, one of the main brakes to its economic growth. More domestic gas supply would feed fuel-starved power plants for longer.
Gas supply should rise by 1.2 billion cfd by the end of this year, Mohammed Barkindo told an energy conference in Abu Dhabi, allowing Nigeria to boost power output by 2800 megawatts in 2009.
That capacity has been stranded without fuel supplies, he added.
Nigeria said it would spend nearly $5 billion from windfall oil savings to develop the shambolic power sector. The West African country has capacity to generate about 3000 MW, but generation often plunges below 1000 MW. It aims to double capacity to 6000 MW this year.
Nigeria has the world's seventh-largest gas reserves, and as part of its gas master plan has invited foreign oil companies to help build three major gas gathering plants and pipelines that would provide supplies to the power sector, reported Reuters.