The cost of cooking gas (liquefied petroleum gas, LPG), may decline further as the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has announced plans to supply their entire LPG to the domestic market.
The board was said to have approved the supply of 100 percent of the company’s LPG production (Propane & Butane) to the Nigerian market, according to a statement by Andy Odeh, general manager, external relations and sustainable development.
The statement said the milestone is coming just three months after the company supplied its first propane cargo into the domestic market.
It said the company 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.
The statement said the initiatives were designed to increase LPG availability in Nigeria, diversifying its uses and supporting the Federal Government’s Decade of Gas initiative, saying 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, Philip Mshelbila, managing director and Chief Executive Officer of NLNG, according to the statement, 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.
Mshelbila was further quoted as saying, “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.
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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.
He said committing 100 percent of our LPG supply is a major milestone in NLNG’s journey of domestic gas supply.
“We supplied our first Butane (LPG) cargo into the domestic market in 2007, which helped to develop over the years the LPG industry in Nigeria from less than 50,000 tonnes to over 1 Million tonnes market size annually by the end of 2020. In 2021, we increased our LPG supply commitment from 350,000 metric tonnes (or 28 million 12.5kg cylinders) to actual delivery of 400,000 metric tonnes (or 32 million 12.5kg cylinders) thereby directing most of our production into the domestic market.”
“But this was not enough for NLNG, hence this commitment to do all that we possibly can and supply 100% of our LPG production to the domestic market.”
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.
“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 the 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.
The company did not throw any light on the sensitive issue of whether the LPG would be supplied at the local or international price.
