The new domestic base price and wholesale prices for natural gas in 2024 have been set at $2.42 per metric million British thermal units (mmbtu), up from the previous rate of $2.18mmbtu.

The announcement, disclosed and signed by the Chief Executive of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, cited provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, which established a regulatory framework for a market-based pricing regime in the domestic gas market.

According to Ahmed, the increase is in line with the directives outlined in section 167 of the PIA 2021, which mandates the regulator to determine pricing structures for natural gas supplied to strategic sectors.

Ahmed elaborated on the principles guiding the determination of gas prices, emphasizing factors such as ensuring sufficient gas supplies for the domestic market, benchmarking against international prices in significant gas-producing countries, and adopting a three-tier cost of supply framework.

The NMDPRA stressed that the decision to set the 2024 Domestic Base Price at $2.42/mmbtu and wholesale prices for natural gas in strategic sectors followed consultations with stakeholders and compliance with the PIA and Gas Pricing Regulations.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr. Ekperikpe Ekpo, revealed this during the Internal Stakeholders’ Workshop in Abuja, emphasizing collaboration with key stakeholders to achieve this objective.

The workshop, themed “Harnessing Nigeria’s Proven Gas Reserves for Economic Growth and Development,” aims to revitalize the nation’s gas sector across its value chain.

Ekpo assured stakeholders of ongoing dialogues with regulators and LPG producers such as Chevron, Mobil, and Shell to increase domestic production, thereby lowering prices.

Additionally, the government explores converting vehicles to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to mitigate the impact of fuel subsidy removal.

However, Ekpo indicates the need for further consultation with relevant bodies before implementing this initiative.

While acknowledging concerns about the withdrawal of taxes and levies on gas-related equipment, Ekpo emphasizes the government’s commitment to ensuring price reduction through regulatory intervention.

A presentation by Mrs. Oluremi Komolafe, Director of Gas at the Ministry, highlights stakeholders’ recommendations, including the need to balance gas pricing to safeguard consumer interests and sustain sectoral growth.

Komolafe underscores concerns raised by LPG retailers regarding the soaring prices, urging government intervention to prevent a shift to cheaper alternatives like charcoal due to affordability issues.

With cooking gas prices reaching N1,400 per kg in January 2024, the government’s proactive measures aim to address these challenges and foster a conducive environment for the clean cooking initiative.

However, the cost to refill it rose by only 0.28 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N10,248.97 in December 2022 to N10,277.17 in January 2023.

State profile analysis showed that Benue recorded the highest average retail price of N11,260.67 for 12.5kg cooking gas, followed by Cross River at N10,833.33 and Ebonyi at N10,763.57.

On the other hand, the report showed that the lowest average price for 12.5kg of cooking gas was recorded in Yobe at N9,550.00, followed by Taraba and Gombe at N9,845.00 and N9,850.00.

This was contained in the Bureau’s “Cooking Gas Price Watch’’ for January 2023 released on Friday in Abuja.

The report also revealed that the average price of 5kg of cooking gas increased from N4,565.56 recorded in December 2022 to N4,588.75 in January 2023 representing a 0.15 percent increase while on a year-on-year basis, the increase in the price of cooking gas was a 25.46 per cent increase from N3,657.57 recorded in January 2022 to N4,588.75 in January 2023.

The NBS cooking gas report showed that Kwara recorded the highest average price of N4,962.50 for 5kg cooking gas, followed by Plateau at N4,945.50, and Adamawa at N4,936.67 in its state profile analysis.

It stated in its “Cooking Gas Price Watch’’ for September 2022 released on Saturday in Abuja that the September price was a 0.40 per cent increase over what obtained in August, NAN reports.

“On a year-on-year basis, the September 2022 price of N4,474.48 for 5Kg of gas was an 86.62 per cent increase over the price of N2,397.60 obtainable for the same volume in September 2021, it stated.

On states profile analyses, the report stated that Kwara recorded the highest average price of N4,950 for 5kg of cooking gas, followed by Niger at N4,941.67, and Adamawa at N4,928.29.

It added that Abia recorded the lowest price at N4,044.44, followed by Anambra and Kano State at N4,100.00 and N4,109.67, respectively.

Analyses by geopolitical zones showed that the North-Central recorded the highest average retail price of N4,715.74, for 5kg cooking gas, followed by the Northeast at N4,539.41.

“The South-South recorded the lowest retail price at N4,317.92, the NBS stated.

It also reported that the average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cooking gas cylinder increased from N9,899.34 in August 2022 to N9,906.44 in September, indicating a 0.07 per cent increase on a month-on-month basis.

On a year-on-year basis, the price rose by 60.69 per cent from N6,164.97 in September 2021 to the corresponding period in September 2022.

On states analyses, the report indicated that Cross River recorded the highest average retail price for 12.5kg cooking gas at N10,937.50, followed by Kogi at N10,760 and Oyo at N10,723.75.

The lowest average price was recorded in Yobe at N8,350, followed by Katsina and Taraba at N8,545.56 and N9,025.78, respectively, the NBS stated.

Similarly, kerosene price rose to N947.30 per litre in September, showing a 17.2 per cent increase over the N809.52 for which it was sold in August 2022.

According to its “National Kerosene Price Watch’’, on a year-on-year basis, average retail price per litre rose by 118.08 per cent from N434.39 recorded in September 2021 to N947.30 in September 2022.

Further analysis showed that the highest average price per litre of kerosene in September 2022 was recorded in Enugu State at N1,272.50, followed by Ebonyi at N1,263.89 and Cross River at N1,187.50.

The report showed that the lowest price was recorded in Rivers at N686.27, followed by Bayelsa at N715.15 and Nasarawa at N735.29.

Analysis by zone showed that the Southeast recorded the highest average retail price per litre of kerosene at N1,128.28, followed by the Southwest at N1,068.18.

“The Northwest recorded the lowest average retail price at N868.89 per litre of kerosene,’’ the NBS stated.

It added that the average retail price per gallon of kerosene in September 2022 was N3,236.27, showing an increase of 9.79 per cent over the N2,947.65 recorded in August.

According to the report, on a year-on-year basis, the price increased by 110.04 per cent from N1,540.82 recorded in September 2021 to N3,236.27 that was recorded in September 2022.

Analyses by states showed that Abuja recorded the highest price per gallon of kerosene at N4,200.00, followed by Abia at N4,078.57 and Enugu State at N4,052.38.

The NBS stated that Borno recorded the lowest price at N2,500 followed by Zamfara and Delta with N2,555.56 and N2,576.92, respectively.

It added that analyses by zone showed that the Southeast recorded the highest average retail price per gallon of kerosene at N3,607.38 followed by the Southwest at N3,468.42

It stated also that the Northeast recorded the lowest price of N2,803.96 for a gallon of kerosene in September 2022.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva disclosed this in Abuja with the Governing Council of the Midstream & Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund, MDGIF.

The inauguration moves the Federal Government closer to fixing the critical missing link in its effort to develop the country’s gas sector.

Chief Sylva charged the nine-member to work seriously to mobilise funds for the provision of the critical infrastructure for the gas industry.

He explained that the inauguration of the Council was a further demonstration of the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to reposition the nation’s energy sector “to drive economic development and prosperity for our people, our nation and value to our partners, in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA)”.

The Minister noted that although the Federal Government has put in place several programmes towards achieving the decade of gas initiatives and developing the huge gas potentials of the country, he however lamented that the missing link was the absence of the basic gas infrastructure to help realise the objectives.

He said a key cause of poor gas production, gas flaring and low domestic gas utilisation was the gas infrastructure deficit in the country.

He said: “It is estimated that more than $20 billion yearly will be required over the next ten years to bridge these gaps,” the Minister said.

“The Fund, established under Section 52 of the PIA, resides as a Directorate in the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA”.

As a Directorate within the Authority, the Minister said the Fund would be expected to benefit from its internal reporting, operational and organisational processes adding that in accordance with the PIA, 2021, the Council “shall supervise and make investment decisions for the Fund”.

Section 52 (3) provides for the Governing Council to supervise and make investment decisions for the Fund.

“The Midstream and Downstream sector is where the jobs could be created and value added to the economy,” Sylva said, urging the Council members to take their assignment seriously.

“There is an urgent need to focus on the major strategic plans and key initiatives to enable the government to set a clear trajectory to achieving the noble objectives of establishing the Fund,” he further stated.

Terms of reference for the Council include identifying critical and relevant stakeholders that can increase domestic utilisation of natural gas, LPG and Auto gas, and develop a roadmap for transforming gas to a value addition product in Nigeria.

The Council has the Minister of State Petroleum Resources as Chairman and the Executive Director MDGIF as chief executive officer.

Other members  of the Council include Dr Scholastica Nnaji representing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Mr Victor Omata representing Federal Ministry of Finance, Farouk Ahmed Chief Executive Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority; Mr Ahmed Bobboi; Abdullahi Bukar; Mr Effiong Abia while the Legal Adviser, NMDPRA, will serve as the Secretary of the Council.

The Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, disclosed this to State House Correspondents shortly after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Recall that the Minister of State for Power, Mohammad Notezai, announced on July 1, 2022, that an additional 5,000 megawatts of electricity would be added to the national grid by March 2023.

Reiterating the same stance in an interview with one of our correspondents on July 19, the Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Garba Sanusi, explained why the commission’s 5,000MW target is realistic saying that the feasibility of delivering such a level of supply to consumers is high.

Sanusi had lamented that 80 per cent of the country’s power generation comes from gas, and the sustainability of gas to generate plants has been constrained largely due to breakdown, vandalism, maintenance work, or disruption of supply to the power plants.

However, with the current supply below the target and fluctuating, the power minister once again blamed gas supply saying his ministry does not have exclusive control to the vital resource.

According to him, whereas the government had entered into a firm contract with the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, power generation had remained around 4,000 megawatts because of the problem of gas.

He said FG has firm contracts with only 5 of the 28 Power Generating Companies but will extend it to more GenCos to stabilise supply at 5000MW.

Aliyu, however, assured Nigerians that the government has “all the ingredients” to solve the supply challenge soon.

Asked about the ongoing strike by Members of the National Union of Electricity Employees, the Minister claimed that protesting workers do not have issues with his ministry but the Head of Service.

Answering queries on the issue the Minister of Power said “The issues they have is not particularly something to do with us, but with employment issues with the Head of Service.”

He said the Minister of State for Power, Minister of Labour and Head of Civil Service of the Federation were absent from the FEC meeting to attend to the developing issues.

Aliyu also revealed that the FEC approved N2,740,000,000 as revised estimates for the updated rates of building structures of compensation and resettlement of the communities affected by the construction of the 700 megawatts Zungeru Hydroelectric power project.

This, he said, revises the subsisting amount from N19,640,000,000 to N22,380,000,000

Speaking during a session at the ongoing 2022 Nigeria Oil and Gas conference in Abuja, the Managing Director, TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Mike Sangster, said efforts by operators were being increased to reduce carbon emissions from gas flaring.

He, however, stated that the adoption of penalties to address the concern was not an answer, stressing the international oil company, as well as others, had developed programmes to manage the situation. Sangster said, “I don’t think penalties are the answer to reducing gas flaring. Likewise, we have a very active programme at the company to reduce carbon footprint.

“So every month we are looking at our fuel gas consumption, we are looking at emissions, and also looking at ideas and ways that we can drive down on carbon emissions. Therefore I don’t think penalties are the way to go.”

The TotalEnergies boss stated that oil firms should be encouraged to move towards more gas production for the indigenous market and for export.

Sangster said, “I think we have to make good business sense and I agree to the transition towards more gas development. We will maximise our oil production for sure, but I think we all want to move towards more gas for the domestic market and also for export.

“So anything that can be done to facilitate the demand for gas is encouraging. And I know there is an idea to move at some point towards a willing-buyer willing-seller model in the PIA.”

The Group Chief Executive Officer, Vurin Group, an oil and gas firm, Victor Ude, stated that aside from boosting gas production in Nigeria, the decade of gas declaration by government in 2020 was also aimed at reducing gas flaring.

He said operators in the sector had keyed into the declaration and were making efforts to cut down on flared gas, adding that some level of progress had been made in this direction.

Ude said, “The government has declared the decade of gas and gas is a transition fuel. So this gives us the opportunity by way of regulation and policy to accept the complimentary efforts of gas as well as the supplantation of gas in terms of fossil fuels and the decarbonisation as we know today.

“That in itself is progress but it needs to be sustained and beyond sustenance we also need to invest in other sources such as renewables. The government needs to look in this direction. Certain policies are enshrined in the PIA and they will help in development for much more progress.”

On his part, the Chief Executive, Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, explained that to safeguard the environment, the Federal Government through the PIA had recommended that penalties from gas flaring be utilised for the purpose of environmental remediation and relief to host communities.

This, he said, was provided under Sections 52 (7d), 104 (4) of the Petroleum Industry Act.

Komolafe said the whole intent of the Act was to ensure that the commission was fully equipped statutorily to discharge on its mandates.

“It is gratifying that the commission has effectively been deploying its statutory powers within the PIA environment to ensure an effective and predictable regulatory environment in the sector,” the NUPRC boss stated.

The resolution followed a motion moved by Chike Okafor on Tuesday during plenary.

Okafor in his motion, accused some persons in the oil sector of sabotaging the economy by hoarding the products.

Recall thar in the past month, the prices of diesel have increased from N350 to N750.

He said the “hike in the cost of diesel is alleged to be the handiwork of unscrupulous stakeholders in the industry, and is tantamount to economic sabotage, causing untold hardships for Nigerians as it will result in an increase in prices of food as well as other goods and services.”

Okafor said the inflation in prices of diesel is “making it impossible for average Nigerians to meet their basic needs.”

He added that if the “ugly trend of the increasing price of diesel is not checked, the multiplier effect will spell doom for Nigeria’s economy.”

Ibrahim Isiaka, while contributing to the motion, moved an amendment to include the hike in the price of cooking gas.

Consequently, the House ordered its committees on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Petroleum Resources (Upstream), and Gas Resources to investigate the unexplained astronomical increase in the price of diesel and gas.

DPR, Head, Public Affairs, Mr Paul Osu, made this known in a statement issued on Wednesday in Lagos, NAN reports.

According to him, the LPG (cooking gas) plants were shutdown for non-compliance with international safety standards.

Osu further stated that the plants were operating without approval or licence from the regulatory agency.

“Some of the sealed plants were operating under high tension electrical installations and other unapproved locations.

“Also, the move was aimed at reducing the occurrence of gas explosion and fire incidents in the State.

“Moreso, we would like to notify the public that DPR would continue to clamp down on such illegal plants,” he said.

He advised that people should learn the need for safe usage and distribution of gas.

President Muhammadu Buhari, according to the agency will preside over the launching virtually.

This was disclosed in a statement on Monday by the Head, Public Affairs of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr Paul Osu in Lagos.

The statement quoting the Director of DPR, Mr Sarki Auwalu, the chief host of the event, as saying that the centre would afford the oil and gas industry the critical elements for competitive advantage, in a changing global energy landscape.

“The integrated centre will also entrench Nigeria’s status as a regional leader and position the nation for significant global impact in the provision of value-added services and breakthrough solutions for the industry in years and decades to come,” he said.

According to him, the centre was structured to drive the three-pronged objectives of safety, value and cost efficiency, which are critical for oil and gas industry stability, growth and sustainability.

The DPR boss also said that the NOGEC complex was structured to house various flagship centres, including Search, Rescue and Surveillance (SeRAS) Command and Control Centre and National improved Oil Recovery Centre (NIORC), in order to comprehensively cover all the key areas of the industry.

Other centres are the Oil and Gas Dispute Resolution Centre (DRC) , Oil and Gas Competence Development Centre (CDC) and Integrated Data Mining and Analytics Centre (IDMAC).

Auwalu said, “SeRAS is an industry-wide programme established to enhance safety management, emergency preparedness and response, as well as bed space management and logistics services across the industry.

“The SeRAS Command and Control Centre (CCC), established at the NOGEC Centre, Lagos, will entrench safe practices, drive cost reduction and improve operational efficiency across the industry.

“Two other Rescue Coordination Centres (RCC) will be set up at Osubi and Brass, in the first instance, for effective coverage of all areas of operations,” he said.