The price of Liquefied Natural Gas (LPG), popularly called cooking gas which hit the roof top about five months ago selling at N8,500 per 12.5kg is set to crash to an all time low as the Board of Directors of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), has approved the supply of 100 per cent of the company’s LPG production(Propane and Butane) into the Nigerian domestic market.
The development may not be unconnected with strong calls and appeals from stakeholders in the gas sector that NLNG increase its supply of LPG into the domestic market which they claim accounts for about 65 per cent.
They argued that the shortfall of 35 per cent is sourced from imports which comes at a premium due to the imposition of Value Added Tax of 7.5 per cent among other added cost, leading to a sharp rise in cooking gas price.
Consumers of cooking gas had in the last five months contended with the escalating price of the product, forcing many to resort to the use of dirty fuels which included; charcoal, firewood, Kerosene among others. The milestone according to NLNG is coming just three months after the Company supplied its first Propane cargo into the domestic market and has developed a scheme to sustainably supply Propane for usage in cooking gas blending as well as in agro-allied, autogas, power and petrochemical sectors of the Nigerian economy to further deepen gas utilisation in Nigeria.
NLNG explained that these initiatives are designed to increase LPG availability in Nigeria, diversifying its uses and support the Federal Government’s Decade of Gas initiative. NLNG is currently the highest single supplier of LPG into the domestic market, with an estimated 400,000 metric tonnes supplied in 2021.
Speaking on the development, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NLNG, Dr. Philip Mshelbila, said the announcement marked the Company’s strong commitment to the continued growth of the domestic LPG market and its passion to increase utilisation of one of the most versatile energy sources in the world.
He said the Company was inclined towards helping to build a strong economy based on the gas resources that Nigeria is abundantly blessed with, and that natural gas could help drive the economy by providing cooking gas for homes, supporting industrialisation, powering mobile cell sites and complex transportation systems, impacting food supply through its usage for fertilizer production and increasing power supply to both homes and industries while reducing the country’s carbon footprint.
According to Mshelbila, “Gas, as the cleanest of the fossil fuels, has become an essential energy source to be reckoned with during this energy transition period. Other countries are revolutionising their energy industry to cut down on carbon emissions drastically. Nigeria should not be left out in this drive, considering its abundant gas resources.
Gas is essential for life and living at the moment, because it can support everything we will need to develop our economy and create better living standards for Nigerians. We need to change the narrative, and NLNG is being pragmatic about it.
“We are ardently following up on the commitment we made in March 2021 at the NLNG-sponsored pre-summit conference of the Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) 2021 organised by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources to support the Decade of Gas declaration by the Federal Government. We are driven by our vision to remain a globally competitive LNG company helping to build a better Nigeria and are making a reality of our collective dreams that one day we can switch all cooking fuels to gas, and power our vehicles with gas as encapsulated in the government’s National Gas Expansion Program and the Autogas Policy,” he said.
