The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, announced on Thursday that the Federal Government has taken a decisive step to revitalise the gas industry and stabilise power generation as President Bola Tinubu authorised the settlement of N185bn in long-standing debts owed to natural gas producers.
In a statement by his spokesman, Louis Ibah, Ekpo said the move was endorsed on Wednesday by the National Economic Council, headed by Vice President Kashim Shettima, saying it marked one of the most significant interventions in Nigeria’s energy sector in recent years.
The statement said that the N185bn legacy debts, longstanding government obligations to gas producers for past supplies, have strained cash flow and hindered operations, discouraged further exploration and production, and reduced gas supply for power generation, thereby worsening Nigeria’s power shortages and unreliable electricity supply.
“The payment, to be executed through a royalty-offset arrangement, is expected to restore confidence among domestic and international gas suppliers who have long expressed concern about persistent indebtedness in the sector,” the statement announced.
