76,578.986 metric tonnes (MT) of LPG supplied in September — PPPRA

The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) revealed that of the 76,578.986 metric tonnes (MT) of LPG supplied across the country in September, 49,453.081MT was locally produced while 27,125.905MT was imported, praising efforts by the Federal Government to attract investments into the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) value chain.

This was disclosed by the PPPRA in a statement issued by its General Manager Corporate Services, Mr Kimchi Apollo, on Sunday, citing that Nigeria produces most of its LPG needs.

They added that FG policies including the National Gas Policy (NGP), Nigeria Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP), National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) and Decade of Gas declaration were responsible for the progress made in the sector.

“Of the 76,578.986 metric tonnes (MT) of LPG supplied nationwide, 49,453.081MT was locally produced while 27,125.905MT was imported.

“49,453.081MT was supplied into the domestic market by Algasco, Stockgap, NIPCO, 11 plc, Prudent, Greenville Natural Gas, PNG Gas, NPDC and Ashtavinayak Hydrocarbon Ltd,” Apollo said.

He added that 49,453.081MT was supplied into the domestic market with 66.58 per cent of the supply sourced from the NLNG, whilst 27,125.905 MT was imported by Rainoil, Algasco and Prudent.

“It is worthy to note that the quantity of LPG sourced locally rose from 38,040.457MT in August to 49,453.081MT in September, while importation reduced from 47,224.346MT to 27,125.905MT.

“The marked improvement in local production reflects the success of President Muhammadu Buhari and Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva in providing the right enabling business climate for the Gas industry to thrive,” he said.

He reiterated that FG policies including the NGP, NGFCP, NGEP and Decade of Gas declaration were responsible for the quantum of investments seen currently in the gas industry, highlighting that the NPDC Oredo Integrated Gas Handling Facility, Kwale Hub Gas Processing Plants (PNG, Ashtavinayak Hydrocarbon), Greenville LNG, Rivers State and OSO/Bonny River Terminal project, the import duty waiver on LPG production equipment as well as the Zero VAT for locally produced LPG had indeed heightened the prospects of domestic investment in the sector.

Earlier, it was reported recently that marketers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, otherwise known as cooking gas, warned that the 12.5kg of cooking gas, which currently sells between N7,500 and N8,000 might increase to N10, 000 before December if the current crisis in the sector is not addressed.