As part of the efforts to increase market penetration of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), otherwise known as cooking gas, and also reduced deforestation, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC (NNPC) has taken a stride by putting in place a 330-ton storage facility that will allow more off takers to have access to the commodity across the country.
The facility, which would soon be unveiled according to Ndu Ughamadu, general manager, group public affairs, NNPC, has facility for storing Propane and dispensing same. It is an extension of the Integrated Gas Handling Facility (IGHF) plant, which has 100 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (MMscfg/d) and 260 barrels per day Condensate from the plant.
When it is unveiled, it will be the largest LPG storage facility in Nigeria, which is located at Oredo, Benin City.
Yusuf Matashi, managing director, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company( NPDC), subsidiary of NNPC that oversees the facility, said the IGHF would be a game changer for the National Oil Company, as both facilities (IGHF & LPG bay) when commissioned, would be a huge revenue stream for the Federal Government.
Matashi said before the end of 2019, the NNPC/NPDC would be producing 40 percent of the nation’s LPG requirements, adding that the facility was centrally positioned to supply LPG to Lagos, South-South; South-East and to the North in order to grow its consumption across the country.
He noted that currently NPDC was the single largest supplier of gas to the domestic market with about 90 percent of gas supply targeted at power generation to drive the nation’s economy positively.
“We are paying greater focus on our 100 per cent assets production. NPDC assets will deliver a lot in terms of meeting its (crude oil and gas) volume targets. We currently contribute 10 per cent to daily national production and by end of 2019, the company is looking at 15 percent contribution to daily national production,” he said.
He posited that NPDC’s production outlook for 2019/2020 was on the bright side, stressing that the company was aggressively pursuing its drilling and field development programmes as approved by the management of NNPC.
The NPDC helmsman revealed that the company had oil reserve base of 3.6billion barrels and gas reserve of 15 trillion cubic feet from its involvement in 29 concessions – 22 Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) and 7 Oil Prospecting Licenses (OPLs).
He explained that the flagship Upstream subsidiary of NNPC would continue to be a leading exploration and production company of choice going forward.
The NPDC boss maintained cordial relations with regulatory agencies, such as the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), adding that the company had maintained its remittance of royalties and Petroleum Profit Tax to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
He stated NPDC and its various host communities were living in peace due to the company’s commitment to sustainable community development policy, saying, over time, the company had won the confidence of the people of the Niger Delta and it would continue to build on the gains recorded.
