By Tanko Mohammed
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has reported that Nigeria’s domestic consumption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), popularly known as cooking gas, exceeded one million Metric Tonnes (MT) in 2020.
The agency disclosed this in a statement signed by Abdulkadir Saidu, the Executive Secretary, PPPRA, in Abuja, on Tuesday.
He said the consumption rate made 2020 the first year in the nation’s history where LPG consumption had reached the one million MT threshold.
“Nigeria consumed 840,594.37 MT LPG in 2019, indicating an increase of 60.5 per cent over 635,452.061MT recorded in 2018.
“This steady and sustained pattern of growth culminating in the over one million metric tonnes of LPG domestic consumption milestone in 2020 has placed the country 1st in West Africa and one of the leading LPG consuming nations on the continent.
“With this laudable feat, the country is on track to meet the five million MT by 2022 target, set in the Nigeria Gas Policy (NGP) of 2017,” he said.
This, he said translated to an average of 1million MT/year, with a collective effort to sustain and ramp up intervention efforts and initiatives of government and stakeholders.
He noted that the Federal Government’s resolve to deepen LPG penetration in the country sought to create a healthier life for all Nigerians by providing access to a cleaner source of energy for cooking, vehicular transportation and other domestic uses.
“The attainment of the one million MT domestic utilisation milestone is a testimony to the progress made so far in ensuring the provision of alternative sources of fueling to Nigerians in place of the traditional PMS, AGO and DPK,” Saidu said.
According to him, the move will help in altering the nation’s energy mix in favour of locally-available options.
To support the move, Saidu further said that Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited, had increased its allocation of LPG to the domestic market from 350, 000MT to 450, 000MT in 2021 in order to achieve its goal.
“Also, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) recently commenced LPG production and load-out in its newly commissioned Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited (NPDC) Oredo Gas handling facility, which has an estimated production stream of 330MT daily.
“The remarkable growth in the domestic LPG market remains largely driven by the impact of the federal government’s policies and programmes, coupled with the efforts of relevant stakeholders and regulatory bodies in the industry.
“The avowed commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, to the Gas Revolution Agenda remains the game changer and key growth driver.
“The culmination of the Year of Gas with the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) Autogas rollout, is expected to foster exponential growth within the industry as more and more Nigerians begin to embrace the utilisation of LPG/CNG as fuel for their automobiles,” he added.
He assured all stakeholders that the PPPRA remained steadfast in its commitment to growing the LPG/Gas value chain to such heights that would deliver maximum dividends to Nigeria and Nigerians.
