The Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Expo, has absolved the current administration of blame on the failed attempt by the Dangote industries to build a 1,200-kilometer subsea gas pipeline.
He also stated that there is no provision in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), or its predecessor policies or legislation, that discourages private sector investment in gas infrastructure.
The minister clarified this in a statement by his spokesman, Louis Ibah, on Tuesday in Abuja.
The Vice President of Dangote Industries, Devakumar Edwin, had alleged during a webinar hosted by Nairametrics last week that government policies in the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors frustrated policies to bring gas from the sea to the shore.
According to him, another government policy that prevented them from executing the project was the government’s ownership of gas pipelines across the country regardless of who built them.
“We wanted to invest in a network of 1,200km of subsea gas pipeline to bring the gas to the shore and our idea was not to export as NLNG.
“The gas pipeline was supposed to bring in 2 billion scf of gas. We did a one-year study by hiring two ships to identify the route through which we lay the subsea gas pipeline so that the gas could be collected and evacuated.
“But then, the government’s policy was that there can be one player upstream, midstream and downstream. We were trying to find a solution to that then the government said all gas pipelines once you build it, you’ll have it over to the Nigeria Gas company. So that this how the project was abandoned”, he noted during the webinar.
Responding, the minister explained that the decision by the company to build or abandon the project was solely a business decision and not caused by the policies of the current administration.
The statement read, “The attention of the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, has been drawn to the recent statement attributed to the VP of Oil and Gas of Dangote Group, regarding the abandonment of plans to build a 1,200km subsea gas pipeline due to government policies.
“Ekpo notes that the decision to build or abandon the project was solely a business decision of the Dangote Group, taken long before the inauguration of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration”.
Continuing, Ekpo said the current administration is diligently working to enhance infrastructure investment in the gas sector by fostering an environment that attracts investors willing to fund projects.
