Nigeria's natural gas reserves are currently estimated at 177 trillion cubic feet (5 trillion cubic meters), almost equal to 30 billion barrels of crude oil, a high- ranking official said here on Thursday.

He said Nigeria had the fifth largest gas reserves in the world, "which more than double the crude oil reserves" in the country.

"Approximately half of these reserves are in the form of associated gas, while the other half is non-associated," he said.

Jonathan Zwingina, Senate deputy leader, made the remarks while leading debate on the general principles of the Downstream Gas Bill, 2006.

Zwingina, who sponsored the bill, expressed regret that oil prospecting companies had not conducted any deliberate search for gas.

He said the absence of a separate and distinct legal framework for the gas sector had, to a large extent, discouraged foreign investors from venturing into the sector.

The deputy senate leader described the bill as being timely, saying the west African country would establish a Gas Regulatory Commission and unbundle the Nigerian Gas Company into the Nigerian Gas Transportation Company and the Nigerian Gas Marketing Company.

Among other benefits, he said the bill, if passed, would attract credible private sector investors to participate in the gas transmission infrastructure critical for independent power producers.

According to Sen. Jibril Aminu, former minister of petroleum resources, "Nigeria is known as a gas country in which there is oil," implying that the gas is more in quantity and value than the oil.

He said, the bill, if passed, would enhance the quality of life, provide clean and sustainable energy, improve fertilizer production and improve power generation.

Source: Xinhua