The House of Representatives yesterday called on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, Limited to make available the report of the implementation, funds utilization and status of the $12 billion 4,128 kilometres Natural Gas Pipeline Project.
It also urged the corporation to review the National Gas Master Plan of the project in the light of present day realities.
The call was sequel to the consideration of a motion on the urgent need to address prolonged construction of the Trans-Saharan Natural Gas Pipeline project.
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In the motion presented at plenary by Ahmed Munir. he recalled that on January 14, 2002, the then Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and the Algerian National Oil and Gas Company (Sonatrach) signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, for a $12 billion 4,128 kilometers Natural Gas Pipeline project with a projected annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters that will extend gas supply to Europe.
He said: “In June 2005, NNPC and Sonatrach signed a contract with Penspen Limited for a feasibility study of the project, which was completed in September 2006, and the pipeline was discovered to be technically and economically feasible and reliable which in turn led to the inter-governmental agreement on the pipeline signed by the energy ministers of Nigeria, Niger and Algeria on July 3, 2009, in Abuja,” he said.
The lawmaker, however, expressed concerns that in 2013, the Federal Government approved a budget of $400 million for commencement of the project originally scheduled to be operational by 2020, with no commensurate progress made to date.
“A new Gas Master Plan (GMP) needs to be crafted due to the current geo-political realities, such as newly completed 20,000 barrel per day Zinder Refinery in the Niger Republic, new Niger-Benin Republic Pipeline due for completion in 2023, as well as discovery and exploitation of hydrocarbons in commercial quantity in the Lake Chad Region of Chad Republic.
He said the House was cognizant of the fact that the successful completion of the project would create jobs, spur economic growth, and enhance energy and regional security.
Adopting the motion, the House mandated its Committee on Gas Resources to ensure compliance and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.
Vanguard News Nigeria
