By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria LNG (NLNG) Limited has said that the shortage of terminal facilities and jetty infrastructure were major reasons behind the high cost of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), otherwise known as cooking gas, in the country.
Gas, an abundant resource in the country, remains costly, with Nigerians seeing a jump in the price over the last 12 months.
To this end, the gas multinational has called for massive investments in Domestic Liquefied Petroleum Gas, particularly in terminal facilities outside Lagos, which could receive a commercial volume of LPG directly from Bonny.
Managing Director of NLNG, Mr Philip Mshelbila, speaking in Port Harcourt recently, explained that aside StockGap Fuels, NLNG was currently unable to supply to other facilities in the South-South as well as to other parts of the country due to the absence of coastal terminals.
Mr Mshelbila put domestic gas consumption at 1.2 million metric tonnes, out of which he said NLNG produces 400,000 metric tonnes, which was about 40per cent of local market requirements.
He further disclosed that his company intends to increase supply by removing factors limiting its capacity utilisation to between 60 and 70 per cent.
He said, “Shortage of jetty infrastructure, especially outside Lagos, is a major challenge in the delivery of LPG to the Nigerian market.
“Sometimes vessels wait for weeks before they can discharge their content due to limited storage capacity along the coast.”
Persistent underinvestment and oil theft in Nigeria’s oil pipelines have plagued the country’s energy sector.
This is coming when gas markets worldwide have been tightening due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which has seen sanctions make Europe move away from patronising one of the world’s largest gas suppliers.
Global gas consumption is expected to drop by 0.8 per cent following a 10 per cent contraction in Europe and flat demand in the Asia Pacific region.
Modupe Gbadeyanka