• Inadequate Capacity, Not Gas Cause Of Power Supply Hiccup
• Backs Plan For Modular Refinery In Niger Delta

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says there is enough gas supply to generate up to 8,000 megawatts, double the nation’s current capacity.
According to Dr. Maikanti Baru, the corporation’s Group Managing Director, on the contrary, Nigeria’s poor power situation is caused by inadequate transmission capacity, with the transmission grid unable to support such volume of power without complications.
In a presentation titled: “Challenges and Prospects for the Diversification of the Upstream, Downstream and Frontier Basin Exploration in the Oil and Gas Sector,” at the 53rd International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society (NMGS) in Abuja, he said opportunities in the power sector had been identified and ready to be explored as part of the NNPC’s plan to transform into a major player in the power sector, rather than being just a gas supplier.
A statement by Ndu Ughamadu, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, also quoted Baru as saying specifically that the corporation is working towards transforming from an oil and gas company into an integrated energy corporation with interest in power generation and transmission.
In this regard, he said the NNPC was already working on a project to generate four thousand Megawatts (4,000MW) of electricity, while also exploring the possibility of investing in the transmission segment of the power sector.
The decision to diversify into the power sector, he explained further, was hinged on the need to bridge the huge gap in the Nigerian energy market.
He also expressed support for the Federal Government’s plan to transform illegal refineries in the Niger Delta into legal entities for proper integration of the youth in the region, stressing that getting the youth to form consortia and set up 1000 barrels per day modular refineries would get them off criminality and create jobs.
In the upstream, he said his goal was to accelerate frontier exploration and grow crude oil reserve to 40 billion barrels from the current 37 billion.
He also challenged the geoscientists on the need to deploy more sophisticated technology and drill deeper than the current 13,000 to 15,000 feet in the Niger Delta to produce more oil.
“We have to look deeper with intensive 3D and 4D seismic surveys over the so-called matured Niger Delta. The older, the better”, he declared.