FG develops new framework to crash domestic gas price
The Federal Government has come up with a new Domestic Base Price (DBP) framework which will be applied to gas sector with the desire to crash the increasing rates being witnessed on daily basis.
The Federal Government is working to ensure that the framework would put a lasting smile on Nigerians who have questioned government unreadiness to address the scourge in prices of domestic gas.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed said that the new framework was in fulfilment of the relevant sections of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari had signed the bill into law on the 16th of August 2021, which was later gazetted on the 27th of August 2021.
He said the Act provided a clear regulatory framework for the determination of a market-based pricing regime for the domestic gas market in Nigeria.
He added said the applicable wholesale gas price for the power sector shall be the established domestic gas price.
He said the DBP would be determined annually based on the criteria set in the Third Schedule of the Act, which are: Reference DBP to prices of gas in countries with significant reserves and production of natural gas; Ensuring that Base Price considers the lowest cost of gas supply based on a Three-tier Cost of Supply Framework.
DBP is related market-prices tied to International Benchmarks – for investors’.
He added that domestic base price shall be the export parity price at the delivery point where there is a dominant supply of gas in Nigeria.
He further explained that the pricing framework for gas conversion industries namely: ammonia, urea, methanol, polypropylene, Low Sulphur Diesel (GTL), shall be as currently specified under the fourth schedule.
The NMDPRA helmsman highlighted that the other commercial sector consisting of cement, non-grid power, iron and steel industries, aluminium and all such industries requiring gas for heating shall be DBP +US $0.50.
He stressed that these prices shall apply to gas supplied under the domestic gas delivery obligation which shall be determined by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) under Section 110 of the PIA.
He disclosed that the agency is currently consulting with industry stakeholders in the development of DBP and applicable wholesale prices for the domestic gas market.
He assured that an industry-wide stakeholder engagement will equally be conducted before the final declaration of the 2022 DBP and wholesale price of gas to the strategic sectors.
He expressed appreciation to all investors in the domestic gas market and assure them of the agency’s commitment to ensuring transparency, deepening of the domestic gas market, and creating an investor-friendly business environment, as the Authority dutifully implement all the provisions of the new regulatory framework.
