FG Receives Knocks over New National Gas Policy

Operators in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry have picked holes in the 2017 National Gas Policy unveiled by the federal government, saying the new policy document would not encourage new investments for gas development.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) at a meeting presided over by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo then in his capacity as the Acting President, had on June 28, 2017, approved the National Gas Policy, following a presentation by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.

The new gas policy document seeks to pursue the policy goals weekend, argued that the new policy framework would favour those who are already producing crude oil against those who want to make new investments in gas production.

The various discussants, including the Chief Executive Officer of Seven Energy, Mr. Manish Maheshwari, who was represented by James Odiase, were unanimous that the new gas policy would favour only a certain type of investors.

In his contribution, a renowned lawyer and Head of Energy and Natural Resources at Streamsowers & Kohn, Mr. Chiagozie Hilary-Nwokonko, said the policy did not provide a level-playing field for all the categories of investors.

In a lead presentation on “Updating the Nigerian Gas Framework for a Gas Intensive Future,” Hillary-Nwokonko dismissed the gas policy document as a mere federal government’s wish-list, which would not form a basis for new investments.

“When you read the policy, for me, it is more of a wish list and frankly speaking, it is not a basis for significant new investments. The way the framework is structured at the moment – it favours certain type of investors. It favours basically, those who are able to recover their gas costs against their oil income.