On Thursday, the federal government said cooperation between Nigeria and Qatar in the area of gas-energy transition from non-renewable energy would strengthen ties across the global gas sectors of the two countries.

Nigeria’s foreign affairs minister, Yusuf Tuggar, disclosed this in his lecture at the Doha Diplomatic Institute on the sidelines of President Bola Tinubu’s state visit to Qatar, according to a statement by Alkasim Abdulkadir, spokesman for the ministry.

Mr Tuggar said the synergy between Nigeria and Qatar would foster gas diplomacy and energy transition from non-renewable energy and benefit the African continent and the world.

“Qatar and Nigeria are blessed with hydrocarbon deposits that place them at the centre of the new energy equation. While Qatar has the third-largest gas reserves in the world, Nigeria is best known as Africa’s largest oil producer.

“Nigeria is a gas province with a bit of oil. We are sitting on reserves of 208TCF. We use our reserves to develop our economy and we are confident we can develop partnerships that will support the process of clean-energy transition,” said the Nigerian minister.

Mr Tuggar, the statement indicated, also said it was incumbent on gas-rich countries such as Qatar and Nigeria to make a case for gas as a cleaner alternative and transition fuel fit for human use.

According to the ambassador, Nigeria needs partners such as Qatar, which shares similarities with Nigeria, of gas as a resource for human utility and with whom to develop gas assets further and expand market shares for the benefit of both countries.

“Nigeria can help Europe and other industrial economies diversify sources of energy supply. In turn, a more stable market will create stable prices, a platform for economic growth, improved living standards, and new opportunities.

“Nigeria currently has a 6-train LNG with a nameplate capacity of 22MTPA, an 8MTPA 7th train underway, as well as an 8th train planned for the near future.

“Nigeria also has two additional LNG projects that have reached advanced planning stages: Olokola (OK LNG) and Brass LNG. Opportunities for quick Floating LNG projects also abound,” the minister.

Mr Tuggar added, “Even before that, 150km from Nigeria lies Equatorial Guinea’s Bioko Island LNG, fresh out of gas supplies and ready to take in feedstock from Nigeria.”

The minister explained that beyond LNG, Nigeria has two major gas pipeline projects that can potentially deliver gas to Europe.

“A Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline through Algeria can potentially deliver a conservative 2 billion scf/d while the 7,000km Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline seeks to join the Maghreb-European Pipeline (MEP) with a capacity of 30 billion cubic metres/day.

He explained that the projects “provide huge opportunities for Qatar to partner with Nigeria to enter into new markets for gas in Africa and beyond,” adding that Qatar “possesses requisite big-ticket experience in negotiating complex international business deals as well as the interlocutory mediation skills for the diplomacy required to pull off a Nigeria-Morocco pipeline, where over 15 countries would be involved.

The minister stated, “The kind of political and economic partnership needed to develop such a complex project can be the foundation for a new diplomatic order in the region. A partnership that further brings us together and can provide new incentives to mitigate or minimize some of the challenges we have faced.” 

(NAN)