Nigeria and other African countries keying into the use of natural gas as energy transition fuel would gain more as the world has classified gas as part of renewable energy.
The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, disclosed this as Nigeria hosted the Committee of Ministers’ Meeting of the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) Project in Abuja.
Sylva said: “We must count ourselves lucky that today, the global community has classified gas as part of renewable energy and since we cannot but join the global energy transition train we must hurry to explore and exploit the abundant natural gas deposits within the borders of our respective countries.”
Sylva reminded the participants of the expectation to appoint a Nigerian as a Director General for WAGPA as discussed in a meeting in Accra, Ghana in November 2021.
On projecting gas as transition energy, the minister said the ECOWAS Commission has initiated the West African Gas Pipeline Expansion Project (WAGPEP) and is working with the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) Project for synergy.
“If this is done, it will be a very positive development for WAGP as it will increase its potential to deliver natural gas for more countries in the ECOWAS sub region and beyond,” he noted.
