Nigeria currently depends on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) commonly called cooking gas imports from the United States of America, Algeria and Equitorial Guinea, amidst soaring prices of the commodity.
This is in spite the country’s massive gas resources currently hovering around 206 trillion standard cubic feet.
The Executive Secretary, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Abdulkadir Saidu, yesterday, disclosed that 85, 264.803 metric tonnes of cooking gas was supplied across the country in August 2021.
Of the volume, 47,224.346 MT was imported by NIPCO, Matrix, Algasco, Techno Oil, Prudent, A.A Rano, Stockgap and others in August, while 38,040.457 MT was sourced locally by Ever Oil, Stockgap, NIPCO, 11 plc, Greenville Natural Gas, PNG Gas Ltd, NPDC and Ashtavinayak Hydrocarbon Ltd.
Infrastructure deficits have kept production below par, while economic indexes, especially high inflation, weakening of the naira, scarcity of exchange rate and other challenges have already sent the prices of cooking above the reach of the poor who live on less than one dollar a day.
Currently, a 12-kilogramme cylinder of cooking gas costs about N7,000. It had traded for almost half of the price earlier this year.
The report by PPPRA showed that 21,606.301 MT was imported from the USA, while 13,044.266 was imported from Algeria and 12,573.779 MT was brought into the country from Equatorial Guinea.
Coming amidst return of many Nigerians to firewood, a development which poses health and environmental hazards, the volume of LPG supplied in August suggests a decrease of about 21,959.781 MT compared to the 107,224.584 MT supplied in the month of July. In addition, 102,787.234MT was also supplied in the Month of June.
On the other hand, out of the 38,040.457 MT sourced locally, 7,042.058 MT was sourced by Ever oil, 9,429.761 MT by Stockgap, 7,687.112 MT by NIPCO, 4,761.626 MT by 11 plc and 440.380 MT by Greenville Rumuji, Rivers State.
Also, PNG Gas Ltd in Ebedei, Delta State supplied 651.490 MT into the market, while NPDC, Oredo, Benin State provided 1,055.310 MT and Ashtavinayak Hydrocarbon Ltd Kwale, Delta State, discharged 6,972.720MT.
Similarly, 11,262.04MT of propane was sourced locally and supplied into the energy market by NPDC and Ashtavinayak Hydrocarbon.
Although the country has been propagating a decade of gas policy aimed at domestic utilisation as well as a domestic gas expansion plan, local consumption is faced with poverty, high price, unemployment as well as inflation and devaluation.
