The Chief Executive Officer, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, Mr Austin Avuru, in his keynote speech at the on-going annual conference and exhibition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists in Lagos noted that the country must effectively utilize its gas resources if it is to achieve sustainable economic growth.
Avuru said, “With prices going back up, confidence is rising and more projects are being sanctioned. We are now seeing a paradigm shift and attempting, as a country, to then use our gas resources not as just a rental revenue agent but as an enabler for business and for bigger economic growth.”
“The truth is that an economy is as large as how much energy it consumes. So, when we produce 8.9 billion standard cubic feet of gas a day, and only nine per cent of it is consumed domestically, it says a lot about what our economy looks like.” According to him, the countries with the highest Gross Domestic Product per capita are also the largest energy consumers per capita, and that is what it should be.
Avuru said, “So, as a country, our aspiration, beyond just increasing our oil and gas production, should actually be to maximise our domestic energy consumption; that is what will expand the economy, not just receiving $25bn-$30bn every year from oil revenue from abroad. That is not what will grow our economy.”
