By Emmanuel Addeh
The import of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) otherwise known as cooking gas grew steadily in 2019, despite the huge proven gas reserves in the country estimated at over 200 trillion cubic feet.
Figures for the year under review released by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) indicated that while 45 per cent of the imports were from the United States of America (USA), 3.95 percent was from Argentina and 8.99 per cent was from Equatorial Guinea.
Other countries from which Nigeria got the product were Algeria, 0.88; Trinidad and Tobago, 1.67; India, 0.50; Spain, 0.74, while Nigeria could only source for 37.42 per cent of the cooking gas within the country.
The figures showed that between January and December last year, roughly 526 million metric tons of the hydrocarbon was sourced abroad, while Nigeria produced 314.5 million in-country, totaling about 840.5 million metric tons.
No reason was given for the monthly import fluctuations, but the data showed that imports grew from 32.31 per cent in February to as high as 100 per cent in August before falling to 77 per cent in December of the same year.
“ The challenges of the LPG domestic market include inefficient distribution chain, pricing distortion occasioned by high LPG price, limited jetty, limited depot storage, inadequate and under-supplied LPG terminals, unsafe cylinder population among others,” the agency stated.
The agency also listed availability, affordability, acceptability as well as accessibility as some of the barriers to LPG adoption.
But the story is not markedly different this year, as over 71 per cent was brought in from outside the shores of the country in the month of August 2020 alone.
For August 2020, a total of 123.5 million metric tons were supplied, out of which 88.1 million tons were imported, while 35.3 million tons were sourced within the country.
The PPPRA listed Algasco LPG Services Limited, a subsidiary of Vitol, as the highest importer of the commodity into the country in August 2020, with 43,888 MT (VAC) of LPG, representing 48.78 per cent of the total import, and 35.52 per cent of total LPG supplied in the period under review.
According to the organisation, other importers of the commodity into the country included Matrix Energy, 19,770 MT (VAC); Prudent Energy and Services Limited, 9,568 MT (VAC) of LPG, and NIPCO, 10,893 MT (VAC).
It said of the 35.3 MT (VAC) of LPG sourced locally in August, the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) supplied 3.634.401 MT (VAC); NIPCO supplied 9,383.680 MT (VAC); Algasco, 4,107.667 MT (VAC), and Stockgap Fuels Limited, 9,058.139 MT (VAC).
The products were discharged at Lister Jetty, Apapa; Matrix Jetty, Warri; Prudent Energy Jetty, Oghara; Bulk Oil Plant, Apapa; North Oil Jetty and Stockgap Jetty in Port Harcourt, according to the agency.
