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LAGOS, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese banks have made commitments to offer financial support for oil and gas investments in Nigeria, a top Nigerian official has said.

Maikanti Baru, the Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said this in Abuja, the nation's capital on Friday.

He spoke when a delegation of Nigerian Gas Association (NGA) paid him a courtesy visit.

Baru said China had contributed 250 million U.S. dollars for project development at a recent financing agreement signed in London.

"On that occasion, I did challenge the Chinese banks that since they have now come on board, they should move from the back seat to the driver's seat," he added.

Baru said the recent debt settlement for Joint Ventures (JV) would have great impact on the gas industry.

He said the JV initiative was capable of providing some dedicated funds to develop the oil sector.

"We share the aspiration of government to raise power generation to at least 10 GW capacity, not just 10 GW in terms of installed capacity but one that will be steady in the grid by 2020," he said.

"All these will drive our activities to ensure that the gas business is expanded and government's aspiration to earn as much revenue from gas as oil will be realized definitely," Baru said.

He said significant progress had been recorded in the contracting process of the 2.7 billion-dollar Ajaokuta-Abuja-Kaduna-Kano pipeline project.

Baru expressed optimism that the achievement recorded in the project would bring a new dimension in gas projects execution in the country and motivate private investors funding of such projects.