NNPC, others to raise gas use to 5m tons in 3 years

Nigeria, pushing through the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and other players, aims to take the annual utilisation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to over 3 million metric tons within five years, rising from the 1.7m MT recorded last year.

The Group Executive Director, Downstream, NNPC Ltd, Engr. Adeyemi Adetunji stated this on Wednesday at the India Nigeria LPG Summit in Abuja.

Briefing the press on the sidelines, Engr. Adetunji said, “Well, the initial target is to do 5 million metric tons, in the next two, three years, and the need to do much more. I believe that template will be revised very soon for us to ensure that we do much more in terms of the place of biomass with LPG in Nigeria.”

He also stated that LPG penetration has been growing in Nigeria. “We were coming below 1m MT and now to 1.7m MT. So, this is growth. And again, if you look at the last couple of years, talking about 30% compounded annual growth rate, you look at last year it was 1.7m MT. By the end of the year, we’ll be able to get exactly what the consumption is,” Adetunji noted.

Adetunji noted that the LPG summit was for Nigeria to learn from the India experience. He said: “We also agreed that we will partner with India to learn from the experience from the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) scheme that the Prime Minister of India in 2016 directed and that increased LPG from about 61% to over 90% penetration.”

The Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters in the Office of the Vice President, Amb. Adeyemi Dipeolu said Nigeria has the 9th proven largest gas reserve globally and the second largest producer in Africa after Algeria.

He noted that 55% of LPG is still imported, adding that the consumption of LPG is still very low standing at 1.8kg per capita consumption, but with programmes to improve that.

The Chief Advocacy Officer, WLPGA, Michael Kelly, said: “Anyone who doesn’t know that Nigeria will one day be an LPG superpower is not paying attention, adding that the WLPGA is keen to support this process.”

(Daily TRust)