The nationwide indefinite strike directed by the leadership of the Organised Labour has disrupted the technical commissioning of the 300MMscfd capacity Kwale Gas Gathering and injection facility by the Federal Government.
In a statement on Sunday, the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) announced that the formal commissioning ceremony of the facility, initially scheduled to be conducted by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo on June 6, 2024, has been deferred due to the commencement of the nationwide strike by the labour union on Monday.
The 300MMscfd Capacity Kwale Gas Gathering (KGG) and injection facility in the Niger Delta is a project by a Joint Venture company between Xenergi Limited and NCDMB Capacity Development Intervention Company, Nedogas Development Company Limited (NDCL), in collaboration with the NNPC Gas Infrastructure Company (NGIC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The KGG facility aims to handle stranded gas resources in Nigeria’s OML 56 oil province, providing independent operators in the area with the opportunity to monetize natural gas from their fields through the gas gathering, compression, injection, and metering infrastructure of the KGG for quick market access.
Despite the strike, the project represents a significant milestone in Nigeria’s decade of gas initiative and a major achievement in providing gas into the OB3 trunk line and monetizing natural gas resources from the OML 56 producer cluster.
Speaking about the project, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Felix Ogbe, highlighted the potential for replicating the success of NEDOGAS at Kwale, Delta State, in other oil- and gas-producing communities to minimize gas flaring.
He emphasized the board’s readiness to continue collaborating with the company, stating, “Their model should be extended to other parts of the country where gas flaring is continuing.”
Managing Director of NDCL, Debo Fagbami, emphasized that with the completion of the first phase of the KGG facility, the proof-of-concept to readily monetize gas has been established, eradicating the wastage of an invaluable resource.
However, the strike action, instigated by the disagreement over a new minimum wage and the reversal of the recent electricity tariff hike, has thrown a spanner in the works, delaying the formal commissioning ceremony and hindering progress on a project crucial to Nigeria’s gas sector development.
The strike, led by the Organised Labour, is driven by the contention that the current minimum wage of N30,000 no longer adequately caters to the well-being of Nigerian workers, emphasizing the need for a review in line with contemporary economic demands.