James Emejo in Abuja
A book, “Understanding Natural Gas – a Nigerian Perspective,” has been added to the country’s literary assets, particularly the energy landscape – detailing the evolution, progress, and current status of Nigeria’s natural gas sector.
Co-authored by a technocrat, Dr. David Ige as well as a foremost commercial lawyer, Dapo Akinosun – the publication is both an easy-to-read historical guide as well as an educational blueprint that traces Nigeria’s energy transition journey from the first coal plant in 1896 to today’s vastly different energy sector dominated by petroleum and, increasingly, gas.
The book is a product of their technical knowledge and rich experience in the local and global gas sectors.
Written in accessible language, it constitutes an easy-to-absorb reference on the fundamentals of natural gas including commercial transactions and agreements.
It is essentially a comprehensive overview of Nigeria’s gas policy journey that students, academics, investors, lawyers, and others interested in this subject will certainly find the book enormously useful – and will serve as a useful manual for entrepreneurs at different levels of the gas ecosystem and anyone who seeks a better understanding of the gas sector.
Among other things, the publication addresses the fundamentals of natural gas: how gas is formed, its uses, key terms, and a thorough overview of the gas sector value chain; technical concepts in natural gas processing and transportation sector in Nigeria, with in-country examples; the evolution of gas in the global energy mix; Nigeria’s energy transition from the first coal-fired power plant in Marina, Lagos, in 1896 when the energy mix was 100 per cent coal, to the current dominance of natural gas as the most dominant fuel in the energy mix for power with coal effectively reduced to zero.
Other topics include the commercial aspect of natural gas: gas contracts, fiscal terms, and investment appraisal methods for gas projects; the evolution of gas fiscal provisions in Nigeria which has culminated in the Petroleum Industry Act fiscal revisions. Guidance to gas contracting; the Nigerian gas sector: an overview of the resource base, key gas infrastructure in Nigeria and the overall sector structure, and the evolution of gas policy trends in Nigeria, lessons learned from past policy development and a look ahead for policy focus as well as an overview of the new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Reviewers described the book as a great contribution to the body of knowledge – and likely to earn a coveted place in the libraries of policymakers, students of political economy, and investors looking to understand the Nigerian gas sector landscape.
Meanwhile, Ige is the Founder/Chief Executive of Gas Invest Limited, an industry veteran with over 23 years of industry experience who had previously served as NNPC’s Group Executive Director, Gas & Power between 2011-2015.
He earned a Ph.D. from Cambridge University and held top positions in Shell and Accenture UK.
He was the architect of Nigeria’s gas masterplan who led its implementation and was in charge of the gas and power agenda while at NNPC.
Similarly, Akinosun is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Founding Partner of SimmonsCooper Partners, a leading commercial law firm.
He is a specialist in gas, banking and finance as well as foreign direct investment.
