A Program Director of the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, Michael Olugbemi has alleged that the suffering of Nigerians today is as a result of the debt of over $10Bn accumulated over the past 25 years due to their dependence on petrol.
He advocated for transitioning the country to natural gas to leverage its comparative advantage and drive economic growth. He highlighted Nigeria’s abundance of natural gas, with over 235 TCF reserves, and noted that gas is currently priced at a significant discount to petrol, making it a more viable option. He cited the example of India, which has successfully transitioned over 6.5 million vehicles to CNG, resulting in cleaner air, and noted that India is using gas purchased from Nigeria.
He said in an interview with Arise TV From 5:57, ”The pain faced by Nigerians is because of the debt of over $10Bn from the past 25 years due to our addiction to Petrol. So what we should be talking about is how to make Nigerians live better without petrol. Nigeria is a gas country that has over 235 TCF of Natural Gas under our feet and gas currently is priced at less than almost 70% discount to petrol whether it is local or domestic or foreign.
We should be talking about moving the country to natural gas because we should be making our comparative advantage to ensure that this economy is growing very fast. Our Neighbors are already buying petrol at 1,500 and N1600 but we are selling at below N1000. Who knows where the price is going to end up at? Indian has more than 6.5 million vehicles that is running on CNG as a result of a court order to ensure that they have a clean air. And India is doing so with gas that is actually purchased from Nigeria, how does that make any sense.”