Sunny Okobi and Kehinde Lawal
In order to satisfy liquefied gas consumers, bring their product closer to the users and sustain its development in the country, 11 Plc (former Mobil Nigeria) has launched its Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in Nigeria.
Speaking at the gas event in Lagos, the representative of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Henry Obih lauded the idea of Double One decision to bring LPG to the country, noting that the consumption usage of LPG in the country is almost 600,000 metric tonnes, compare to what it was in 2007 and 2019 which were 50,000 and 70,000 metric tonnes respectively.
The Group Executive Director/COO of NNPC Downstream said: “In 2007, we were consuming about 50,000 metric tonnes of LPG in a year, in 2009 it was 70,000 metric tonnes while in 2017, we were almost 600,000 metric tonnes of LPG consumables in Nigeria, we are convinced that the potential usage is even much more than that and if you look at the World Bank Statistics, which says Nigeria potential is about 3.2 million tonnes a year, consumed within Nigeria LPG.â€
He noted that NNPC has a presidential mandate to grow the use of LPG in Nigeria, and part of the objective as an institution arm and agency of government is to work with other players within the sector, to encourage them to invest in LPG which will also support business growth initiatives.
The official stressed that while others are growing, NNPC is also interested significantly in infrastructure to increase the production of LPG in Nigeria and also the distribution.
According to him, NNPC is getting the industry to come together to ensure that people could get access to regulatory permits and other things they need while encouraging investment so that they could reach and exceed the corporation potentials within the next two to three years.
He stated that LGP has been licenced by GPR and as come unto the platform when the corporation went to witness the operation pump which was a world class facilities with all the latest gas safety control system built into it.
Also speaking at the event, the Managing Director, Double One Plc, Mr. Tunji Oyebanji said the company’s entry into LPG business in Nigeria was in consonant with the directory of government towards moving the country into the usage of liquefied gas which the company wishes to align with such plan.
According to Oyebanji, the company feels it is important to align with the government in terms of making clean energy available to Nigerian customers.
“A lot of people have the misconception that gas is very expensive and complicated to use and such misleading information needs total awareness. For example, a gas cylinder of 12.5kg is N3,000 which is quite cheaper and affordable compared to the price of kerosene, as many households are still making use of kerosene stoves in the countryâ€, he added.
