Article Summary
- Through one of its subsidiaries, Axxela has commissioned a 150 mmscfd natural gas facility in Ibefun, Ogun state.
- The facility will power industrial and commercial clusters in the area.
- The project is supported by a joint venture partnership between Axxela and NNPCL.
Gas and power portfolio company, Axxela has successfully launched a natural gas city gate facility in Ibefun, Ogun state. The project was executed through one of Axxela’s subsidiaries, Transit Gas Nigeria Limited. The company made the announcement via its official LinkedIn page on Wednesday, May 10. According to Axxela, the commissioning was done on Tuesday, May 9 in Ogun state.
The company wrote:
- “Yesterday, Transit Gas Nigeria Limited (TGNL), one of our subsidiaries, in a joint venture partnership with NNPC Gas Marketing Limited (NGML) commissioned a 150 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) Natural Gas City-Gate facility in Ibefun, Ogun State. It is expected that the facility will supply natural gas to industrial and commercial clusters in Ogun State, and its environs.”
During the commissioning, the Managing Director, of NNPC Gas Marketing Limited, Justin Ezeala, said the project is one of the efforts currently being made by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, to pursue the Federal Government’s Decade of Gas initiative by boosting access to affordable, sustainable and clean energy sources to support industrialization, economic growth and development.
Also, the Ogun state Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun said:
- “This project will support, drive and complement our administration’s gas mobility projects through which our mass transport vehicles will be powered by gas, as we set to kick-start the deployment of electric motorcycles in a bid to reduce carbon emissions and earn us carbon credit, thereby keying into the green society like other advanced cities around the globe.
- “We recognize energy as a driver to the continued development of other sectors such as agriculture, health, commerce, and industry, education and the overall economic activities and individual prosperity of the citizenry.”
Natural gas as a local business booster
The natural gas city gate facility in Ibefun is in line with the recommendations of the International Gas Union (IGU) that Nigeria and other African countries should use natural gas to boost local businesses. In its February 2023 Gas for Africa report, the IGU said Nigeria and other African countries need to adopt gas locally to promote industrialization, create jobs and expand supply chains with the production of fertilizers and petrochemicals, and develop energy-intensive industries such as cement, steel and desalination.
FG commitment to natural gas
In 2021, the Buhari administration launched the decade of gas initiative which will transform Nigeria into a natural gas-based economy. The initiative which runs from January 2021 to 2030, sets out to increase the domestic utilization of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG), as well as commercialize gas flares, develop industrial gas markets and increase gas-to-power capacity.