Firm boosts cooking gas supply in Nigeria by 11,000 metric tonnes

In a statement on Thursday, January 17, 2019, the company quoted Gbolahan Obanikoro, its Chief Executive Officer, as saying that they have supplied over 25,000 metric tonnes monthly across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Obanikoro said his company has positioned itself as a "front runner" in a bid to boost the supply and availability of cooking gas in the country in fulfillment of the Presidential Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) expansion initiative.

"Nigeria is a sleeping giant with an annual consumption capacity of five million metric tonnes per annum," Obanikoro said.

“We are currently consuming about 600,000 metric tonnes just a little above 10 per cent of our actual capacity.

"Our goal is to continue to push for the adoption and penetration of LPG across the country, ensuring that the product is available to consumers and of course position ourselves to harness the benefits of when the market takes a corner and the country is poised to achieving its consumption potential.

“In furtherance of the Presidential LPG Expansion Initiative aimed at deepening the usage and fully integrate the product into Nigeria's energy mix, MT Sahara Gas, the newly built vessel acquired by the West Africa Gas Limited (WAGL), has delivered an unprecedented 11,000 metric tonnes of LPG to Nigeria in order to boost availability and safe access to the commodity.”

WAGL is a Joint Venture of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Sahara Group.

Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru, had said WAGL remained committed to stabilising the market and ensuring sustainability of the commodity through strategic deliveries within the sub-region.

“This is a historic achievement for the NNPC and Sahara Group that showcases a truly successful partnership by all global standards," Baru said.

"The quest is to achieve uninterrupted supply of the commodity and address infrastructural limitations as we continue to implement our zero tolerance policy against adulterated products and their promoters across Nigeria."

Meanwhile, the NNPC says it is set to implement effective commercial framework that would halt the export of propane and butane which are major components in the production of cooking gas.

In a press release by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, on Thursday, January 10, 2019, the Corporation explained that the move to stop the export of propane and butane which is anchored by the Crude Oil Marketing Division of the Corporation would enable the NNPC boost supply of LPG to the domestic market thereby leading to a natural downward slide in the price of the product in the country.