Nigeria imports 55% of LPG consumed in August
Lagos – Nigeria imported 55.39 percent of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, or cooking gas, consumed in the country in August, according to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA.
The agency said through its Executive Secretary, Abdulkadir Saidu, that a total of 85,264.803 metric tonnes, MT, of gas was supplied nationwide in August, adding that 47,224.346 MT of the total volume was imported while 38,040.457MT was sourced locally.
The PPPRA said: “The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency report of LPG supplied in August 2021, indicates that a total of 85,264.803 metric tonnes of LPG was supplied nationwide.
“A breakdown of the supply report shows that 38,040.457MT was sourced locally by Ever Oil, Stockgap, Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company Plc, Greenville Natural Gas, PNG Gas Ltd, Nigerian Petroleum
Development Company and Ashtavinayak Hydrocarbon Ltd, while 47,224.346 MT was imported by NIPCO, Matrix, Algasco, Techno Oil, Prudent, A.A Rano, Stockgap.”
Additional analysis of the data on importation in August, showed that 21,606.301 MT was imported from the United States, while 13,044.266 was imported from Algeria and 12,573.779 MT was brought into the country from Equatorial Guinea.
The PPPRA also disclosed that the volume of LPG supplied in August indicated a decrease of about 21,959.781 MT compared to 107,224.584 MT supplied in July.
In addition, the total volume was 17,522.431 MT lower than the 102,787.234MT supplied in
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, River 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,” the agency added.
Nigeria is home to a proven gas deposits of 206.53 trillion cubic feet, according to the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, yet, cooking gas remains scarce with prices currently soaring to the highest level in years. The 12.5kg cylinder is currently being sold for between N6500 and N7000, from N3,500 in December, 2020.
The precarious situation has left many questioning the viability of the Federal Government’s national gas programme, NGEP.
The government earlier this year began the implimentation of the NGEP, to drive increased utilisation of gas in the country as against petrol and the use of firewood for cooking.
But, it also recently implemented a 7.5 percent tax on imported cooking gas, a development drive up the price of the product.