Recent news from the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has revealed that Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) otherwise known as cooking gas has experienced a significant dip by 21,959.781 Metric Tonnes (MT) in August 2021. In this month, Nigeria recorded a supply of 85, 265 MT according to the agency. The agency remains silent on the cause of the supply decline, the cost of cooking gas has been soaring steadily in the international market.
Mr Abdukadir Saidu who happens to be the executive secretary of the agency, a breakdown of the supply report shows that 38,040.457 MT was sourced locally by Ever Oil, Stockgap, NIPCO, 11 plc, Greenville Natural Gas, PNG Gas Ltd, NPDC and Ashtavinayak Hydrocarbon Ltd, while 47,224.346 MT was imported by NIPCO, Matrix, Algasco, Techno Oil, Prudent, A. A Rano, Stockgap.
On importation in the month of August, the data, he said, “shows that 21,606.301 MT was imported from the USA, while 13,044.266 was imported from Algeria and 12,573.779 MT was brought into the country from Equatorial Guinea.
The volume of LPG supplied in August suggests a decrease of about 21,959.781 MT compared to the 107,224.584 MT supplied in the month of July. The statement recalled that 102,787.234MT was also supplied in the Month of June.
The agency explained that out of the 38,040.457 MT sourced locally, 7,042.058 MT was sourced by Ever oil, 9,429.761 MT by Stockgap, 7,687.112 MT by NIPCO, 4,761.626 MT by 11 plc and 440.380 MT by Greenville Rumuji, River State. Also, PNG Gas Ltd in Ebedei, Delta State supplied 651.490 MT into the market, while NPDC, Oredo, Benin State provided 1,055.310 MT and Ashtavinayak Hydrocarbon Ltd Kwale, Delta State, discharged 6,972.720MT.
The statement goes thus “11,262.04MT of propane was sourced locally and supplied into the energy market by NPDC and Ashtavinayak Hydrocarbon. It is worthy to note that since the declaration of the “Decade of Gas”, by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, the nation has witnessed a significant increase in the volume of LPG produced locally.
This is due to the commitment of the Federal Government in promoting gas penetration, to ensure a clean source of energy for cooking, power generation and transportation.
The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) as the first law that recognizes the Oil and Gas midstream sector will promote and protect gas-based investments and optimize the nation’s enormous gas potentials while ensuring that Nigeria transit to become a net-zero emission nation.
Source: John Ofikhenua
The Nation Newspaper.
