Synopsis Of The 2017 National Gas Policy

On Wednesday, June 28, 2017, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its monthly meeting approved the National Gas Policy, 2017 (“NGP”). The NGP, which was first released through the Ministry of Petroleum Resources (“MPR”), as a Consultation Draft in October 2016, is based on a fundamental review of the policy positions of the Government over the last ten (10) years in respect of Nigeria’s gas resources. Notably, the shortcomings of the 2008 Gas Master Plan (“GMP”) in attracting the needed private sector investment for building critical infrastructure and developing a mature domestic gas market by the target-year of 2015, coupled with the Government’s resolve of achieving its policy goals for the gas sector under the MPR’s 7 Big Wins initiative and the recently launched national Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP 2017–2020); seemingly necessitated the formulation and adoption of a new and better policy thrust for the industry. It is intended that the NGP will be complemented by a National Oil Policy and a Petroleum Fiscal Policy.

Fundamentally, the NGP sets the goals, strategies and an implementation plan for establishing a framework that will drive the institutional, legal, regulatory and commercial reforms necessary for attracting investment into the gas sector. Key components of the NGP are highlighted hereunder: 

Strategic Objectives Of The NGP

The NGP envisions Nigeria as an attractive gas-based industrial nation, focused on satisfying local gas demand requirements, and developing a significant presence in international markets. The Policy aims to define and set the framework necessary to move Nigeria from being a crude oil export-based economy to becoming an attractive, oil and gas-based industrial economy...

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