Nigerian Gas Marketers under the umbrella of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) warned that the constant rate of gas price increases poses a big challenge for the marketers.
This was disclosed by Mr Abideen Olatunbosun, National President, NALPGAM, on Tuesday during the 36th Annual General Meeting of the association held in Ibadan.
They urged FG to find a lasting solution to the rising price of cooking gas in the country.
Price challenges
The association warned that if the rising gas prices are not addressed, gas might become a commodity only affordable to the rich, adding:
- “It is vital for me to state that continuous increase in the price of gas in recent times stands as a big challenge to LPG marketers.
- “The government needs to find ways to ensure the stability of gas prices as well as make gas available to common Nigerians.
- “As a country, we need to improve on our gas utilisation level and if we all adopt gas, it will save our forest and improve the quality of our lifestyle and the economy will grow.’’
They added that the hike in the price of gas is a concern to all, and called for a collaborative effort between the government and the private sector to establish critical gas infrastructure.
Domestic utilisation
Prof. Sunday Isehunwa, Department of Petroleum Engineering, Faculty of Technology, University of Ibadan, said that LPG offered a huge promise for increased domestic gas utilisation in Nigeria, citing that cooking gas also served as the country’s energy transition to net-zero carbon emission by 2060.
He also urged for increased LPG supply to meet rising demand and curtail sharp practices by some operators, adding:
- “The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has been the major supplier of LPG, however, additional supplies are essential through functional refineries, and adequate natural gas processing facilities.
- “Removal of difficulties in importation when necessary is also essential for additional supplies.
- “Adequate infrastructure development is highly necessary to enhance access to LPG by rural communities.
- “Accessibility will increase through increased economic empowerment of consumers and relatively low costs of products,’’.
Mr Ogbugo Ukoha of the Nigerian Midstream And Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), said that the recent deregulation policy would result in reflective petroleum products pricing.
He urged that necessary infrastructure investment must be put in place to address challenges of gas reserve to enable smooth distribution, adding:
- “Our focus is to make the necessary investment in gas infrastructure to increase LPG supply so as to force its price down for Nigerians,”.
