By Precious John, Senior Correspondent, Energy

The Federal Government has praised Savannah Energy, the British independent energy company focused around the delivery of Projects that Matter, for its substantial investment in Nigeria’s energy sector to date, saying that it appreciates what the company is doing, and encourages Savannah to sustain it, Cyber Era NG has gathered. 

The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources (Gas), Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, made the commendation during a recent visit to the Uquo gas Central Processing Facility in Akwa Ibom State, which is owned by Accugas Limited, a subsidiary of Savannah. He said that Savannah’s substantial investment to date has helped in boosting domestic gas supply in the country, where Savannah now supplies gas enabling approximately 20 per cent of Nigeria’s thermal power generation capacity.

Commenting on the importance of gas to the Nigerian economy, Hon. Ekpo stated that  President Bola Tinubu was intent on developing the gas sector to drive the Nigerian economy. Ekpo  said: “The President is very intentional and strategic about developing the gas sector to drive the economy of this nation. We know that if the economy of Nigeria is driven by gas, it will make things easier and that is the target of the ‘Decade of Gas’ initiative. Our target is to make sure that by 2030, the Nigerian economy will be driven by gas.”

The Managing Director of Savannah Energy, Nigeria, Pade Durotoye, who accompanied the Honourable Minister on the Uquo visit, explained that the company, through Accugas Limited, had invested over US$1.6 billion in gas processing and transportation infrastructure to support the domestic market since 2014. Mr. Durotoye said: “Accugas is also investing an additional US$45m in a new compression system at the Uquo facility that will allow the company to continue to provide reliable gas supplies to customers for years to come. The system comprises two parallel trains with a capacity of 160 MMscfpd each and is designed to increase the gas export pressure. The project is expected to be completed and operational later this year.”

Durotoye added that Savannah strongly supported the Federal Government’s adoption of natural gas as a transition fuel in Nigeria’s net-zero pathway, particularly for power generation, adding that this was why Accugas has invested in building a nameplate 200 MMscfpd gas processing facility, supported by a ~260km gas pipeline network solely for the domestic market.

Durotoye stated that all the company’s gas is consumed domestically, with 80 per cent being sold to thermal power generation companies, and the remainder to a range of large industrial customers, such as cement producers, where, for example, Accugas enables about 10 per cent of the country’s cement production.