The Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, says the Federal Government is currently working to grow the country’s gas reserve from 206 trillion cubic feet to 600 TCF, IgbereTV reports.
Sylva gave the assurance on Wednesday at the 23rd World Petroleum Congress in Houston, Texas, U.S.
The minister spoke at a session themed ” Regional Development and Opportunities in Africa”.
He said the increase would position Nigeria among the countries with the highest gas reserves in the world.
According to him, the 600 trillion cubic feet reserve will enable Nigeria to achieve the desired development required of a gas nation.
“We have a lot of gas in Nigeria. We currently have 206 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.
“This number is already discovered in gas reserves and the 206 trillion cubic feet reserve were discovered while looking for oil; so it was accidentally discovered.
“We were actually going to look for crude oil and we found gas, and in that process of accidental discovery of gas, we have found about 206 tcf.
“So, the belief is that if we really aim to look for gas dedicatedly, we will find up to 600 trillion cubic feets of gas,” the minister said.
Sylva said that the forum provided an opportunity to share accomplishments and incentives within the industry which enhance Nigeria’s investment value preposition.
He explained that so far, gas was being used as a transition fuel as Nigeria and Africa as a continent do not contribute more than one per cent as carbon emission aggravating the global warming situation
