Benin — The Federal Government said it has commenced construction of three compress natural gas stations in Benin, Lagos and Abuja.

Minister of State for Energy (Gas), Mr. Emmanuel Odusina, made the disclosure yesterday when he paid a courtesy visit to Acting Governor of Edo State, Mr Lucky Imasuen, at Government House, Benin.

Also, Minister of State for Energy (Power), Mrs Fatima Ibrahim, yesterday said an emergency 100 megawatts electricity plant to be powered by fuel, will be established in Kaduna State.

She said the irregular power supply being experienced by Nigerians due to the 3000 megawatts generated will improve before the end of the year.

While being taken round some abandoned power facilities i used for generating power in the 60s, by Governor Namadi Sambo, Ibrahim said electricity supply kept fluctuating because some of the machines had to be repaired.

Odusina said the plan has become imperative, because of the importance it attached to gas as alternative source of energy, adding that he was in Benin to inspect the project site.

According to him, Edo State, by December 2008, will produce the first compress natural gas through the effort of Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company Owners (NIPCO), a private firm, as the area is filled with 185 trillion cubic metres of gas deposit.

While stating that gas is an international commodity, he pointed out that "very soon, gas will be a major revenue earner in Nigeria as it can be used to produce a lot of things like fertilizer, ethanol and petro-chemical."

The minister, who decried the rate of gas-flaring in the country, said Nigeria flares about 135 million standard of gas daily, which represents the small quantity used to improve the economy of Trinidad and Tobago