The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has said that it is hoping to supply five million metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (cooking gas) this year, surpassing last year’s supply of 1.7mmt by 194 per cent.
To achieve this, the company is partnering with the Indian Oil Company, IOC, after the Asian country boosted its LPG penetration from 62 percent in 2016 to 99.8 per cent by August 2019.
Speaking at the World LPG Association India-Nigeria Summit 2022 in Abuja yesterday, group executive director, Downstream, NNPCL, Engr. Adeyemi Adetunji said Nigeria has a lot to learn from the Indian experience.
Engr. Adetunji disclosed that NNPC Limited is positioned to deploy 740 LPG Micro-Distribution Centers (MDCS), 37 Filling Plants and Skids in its 541 stations within the next three years.
He explained that “Nigeria has identified its abundant gas resources as fuel for energy transition which informed her Net Zero commitments by 2060 and the declaration of 2021-2030 as Decade of Gas
“NNPC Limited is an energy company with new investments in gas, power, and renewables. Key pipeline projects such as
ELPS I1, OE5 and AKK to deliver a total of 6.2 billion cubic feet of gas per day to demand nodes across the country are at various stages of completion.
“We have strong presence in the LPG value chain contributing about 45 per cent of Domestic supply via JVs (Oso Bonny River Terminal), affiliates (Nigeria LNG Ltd & Ashtavinayak Hydrocarbon Limited) and subsidiaries (NPDC)”, he added.
He noted that “the initial target is to do 5 million metric tons, in the next two, three years, but there is the need to do much more. I believe that template will be revised very soon”.
Also speaking at the event, the special adviser to the President on Economic Matters in the office of the vice president, Adeyemi Dipeolu noted that while LPG penetration in the country was still very low, the federal government hopes to convert 30 million households to the use of LPG by year 2027.
He noted that “following the implementation of government’s gas expansion initiatives, and the presidential assent to the PIA investors stand in good stead to benefit from the vast opportunities available for unlocking Nigeria’s abundant gas resources for shared prosperity”.
