Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO) Plc has confirmed that its investment, put at $50 million, is helping push Nigeria’s energy diversification and transition plans, with more in the pipelines.
According to Mr Suresh Kumar, the company’s Managing Director, “We have spent more than $50 million on natural gas infrastructure over the years. We believe that there are lots of potential in Nigeria that can be explored for gas utilisation, and this will further boost our economy.”
Mr Kumar said that the organisation had deepened gas usage and market penetration in the country through massive investment in the sector.
He said that as the federal government plans to put an end to fuel subsidy, natural gas by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Auto CNG were bound to be the preferred fuel of choice as the natural gas is safe, environment-friendly, and economical.
Mr Kumar said that the company had invested massively in gas infrastructure, in line with Federal Government declaration of 2021 to 2030 as Nigeria’s Decade of Gas.
He said that NIPCO was intensifying investment in gas infrastructure to bolster the gas agenda of the federal government, which was getting a booster.
According to him, already, the company has established Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) facilities across the country to make cars run on gas.
He also said that NIPCO had been expanding its scope on the supply of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and constructing new pipeline infrastructure to strategic locations in the country.
Mr Kumar said, “By using indigenous gas, we can reduce the subsidy burden on the federal government.
“We can also reduce the importation burden, and that will directly or indirectly reduce capital flight and create more employment opportunities for Nigerians.
“We are the pioneers. We always dream about the future. So, we dreamt of natural gas utilisation in Nigeria right from 2008, and we started investing.
“We introduced this model to the government. Nigeria is a country that has abundant natural gas, and instead of wasting subsidy on petrol, we should be looking at a blueprint that can change the petrol market to CNG market.”
According to him, NIPCO is an integrated company that supplies the Nigerian market with petrol, diesel and gas, adding that the company currently has about 19,500 metric tonnes of combined storage capacity for Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) or cooking gas with 10 loading bays, which could truck-out over 4,000 tons per day.
