The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) announced yesterday that the country’s domestic consumption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has exceeded 1 million Metric Tonnes (MT) in 2020, making it the first time in the nation’s history where LPG consumption will reach that milestone.
This was said in a statement by the agency’s executive secretary, Abdulkadir Saidu.
He said “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 first 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 5 million MT by 2022 target set in the Nigeria Gas Policy (NGP) of 2017, which translates to an average of one million MT per year, provided we collectively sustain and ramp up intervention efforts and initiatives of government and all stakeholders.”
According to him, the FG’s resolve to deepen LPG penetration in the country seeks to create a healthier life for Nigerians by providing access to a cleaner source of energy for cooking, vehicular transportation and other domestic uses.
“The attainment of the 1 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 and altering the nation’s energy mix in favour of locally-available options.
He added that Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited, has increased its allocation of LPG to the domestic market from 350, 000MT to 450, 000MT in 2021 in order to support this laudable 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,” PPPRA said.
“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.
