The Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited says it is targeting the domestic market 100% with its product which will soon hit the market to crash the souring gas price. The giant gas company made this statement yesterday through its General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Andy Odeh who said his company will prioritize the domestic market with its butane and propane gas. Odeh revealed the effort is to deliberately flood the market with the product, diversify its use and also help the federal government over a decade of failed gas initiatives.
According to the statement, NLNG in Nigeria is currently the highest supplier of LPG to the domestic market with estimated400,000 metric tonnes supplied in 2021.
The statement said, “The milestone is coming just three months after the company supplied its first propane cargo into the domestic market and 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 utilization in Nigeria,”
Vigil360 learned that the price of cooking gas in Nigeria has been on a steady increase since the beginning of last year to date, the trend which has made many families go for an alternative source of energy like firewood or charcoal.
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari during December while inaugurating a 120-metric tonnes LPG storage and bottling plant by Emadeb Energy Services Limited, said the corporation is currently working towards increasing the supply of LPG, in a bid to crash the gas price in the country.
An investigation by vigil360 revealed that the price of liquefied gas always moves with the price of petroleum products and their derivatives, the NNPC, therefore, promised to deploy the economic principle of demand and supply to flood the market with the product to crash the price.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the NLNG, Mr. Stephen Mshelbwala disclosed the announcement by the company is a serious commitment to the continued growth of the domestic supply of the product and a passion to increase utilization by Nigerians.
He added, “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 revolutionizing their energy industry to cut down on carbon emissions drastically. Nigeria should not be left out in this drive, considering its abundant gas resources,”
Mshelbwala added, “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 organized by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources to support the Decade of a 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,”
The MD CEO reiterated that 100% of their LPG supply is a major milestone in their journey to domestic supply.
He recalled “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 products 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,”
NLNG company is jointly owned by four partners; the federal government, represented by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Shell Gas B.V, Total Energies Gas & Electricite Holdings, and Eni International.
