As part of NLNG’s constant advocacy on helping to build a better Nigeria, the company is focusing on supply of LPG. The Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited has currently committed 350,000 tons, volumes more than the country can take today, due to inadequate facilities at off-take points.
To ameliorate this challenge, the management of the company, yesterday, visited some LPG facilities in Lagos to inspect and see how there can be a better flow of the product into the market, so that the price can come down.
An estimated sum of N150 million would have been expended by the NLNG when the ongoing refurbishment of the jetties in Lagos is completed. The revamp is meant to upgrade the jetties and shorten the turnaround time by the discharge of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by the company’s vessel, Gas Providence.
The jetties are Petroleum Wharf Apapa (PWA), New Oil Jetty (NOJ) and Bulk Oil Platform (BOP). This was stated by Tony Attah, Managing Director, NLNG, during a facility visit and assessment of the ongoing upgrade.
“We came to visit the facilities to take a look at the infrastructural challenges inhibiting the free flow of the product into the market. In the LPG industry, we see opportunities for business and partnerships. We will upgrade the jetties and open more avenues for the product to come in”, said Attah.
It is believed that with the improvement of the facilities, thus, engendering a faster turnaround time of Gas Providence, the supply gaps experienced by the market which have often caused price volatility will be minimised.
“NLNG has committed to supply 350,000 tonnes into the market, but was able to supply only 262,000 tonnes in 2016 because of these challenges. So there is enough volume for the market but these infrastructural challenges inhibit the flow to the market. NLNG will refurbish some of the jetties and upgrade them so that they can have more capacity to receive and operate optimally and safely. Once supply increases into the market, it will reduce the ability of people to play foul.
At NLNG, we stay committed to the development of Nigeria. So as part of our vision of helping to build a better Nigeria, we focus on energy, bringing energy into the country. Today, most of it is within the domestic, but the future that we see is an industrialised aspect powered by LPG. We have a vision that Nigeria’s industrialisation can be underpinned by gas”, Attah added.
Sadeeq Mai-Bornu, deputy managing director, NLNG, who was also part of the management team on the facility visit, said that in 2007 when there was a shortage of LPG in the market, NLNG intervened.
“We are glad to say that as a result of NLNG’s intervention, volume consumed has scaled up to over 250,000 tonnes and we are looking to scale the volume up more, as the company has set aside 350,000 tonnes for the market”, Mai-Bornu said.
“NLNG is the biggest receptacle to gas in the country and it is our contribution that has changed the game in the industry in Nigeria”, Mai-Bornu added.
While the team was at NIPCO, Venkataraman Venkatapathy, Group Managing Director, said that the company’s entry into the LPG business in 2009 was “apparent response to the call of the Federal Government to improve LPG access through provision of infrastructure that could aid supply”, adding that NIPCO’s construction of the largest 5,000MT facility, the largest LPG sphere in Africa, is a conscious move to improve access, facilitate gas evacuation across nooks and crannies of the country and quick turnaround of NLNG vessels.
Auwalu Ilu, immediate past president of the Nigerian Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association (NLPGA) said at the local level, people are switching to LPG on their own and he foresees the trend increasing in a well-supplied LPG market.
FRANK UZUEGBUNAM
