The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited says its drive to expand the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market in Nigeria is predicated on its determination to save the environment by collaborating with relevant stakeholders to stop gas flaring and deforestation in the country.

To achieve this objective, the foremost gas company in Africa said it was investing heavily in the LPG market to ensure that more Nigerians have enhanced access to cooking gas and stop deforestation and generation of carbon that hurts the ozone layer.  

NLNG’s General Manager, Technical Division, Ekeinde Ohiwerei disclosed these in a chat with Kristina Reports on the sidelines of the Nigeria LNG Science Session at the Social Media Week Lagos 2020 in Lagos.

“One of the things we are very passionate about is environmental protection. I mean our core priority is stopping flare in Nigeria but another ecological issue that is very important is deforestation.”

With a population of over 30 million households, available statistics reveal that Nigeria’s energy consumption is firewood 56 per cent, Kerosene, 27 per cent, charcoal, per cent, 6 per cent, LPG, 5 per cent, electric cookers, 4 per cent, while other solid fuels take the rest.

But according to Ohiwerei, given the current drive of the NLNG, the statistics for LPG use is heading north with the value chain improving rapidly, especially, with huge investments in the sector.

“One of our strong initiatives many years ago was to really invest in seeding the LPG market, improving the LPG market. We invested in a vessel and we also subsidized through that vessel some of the import into Nigeria and we are very glad to see now that that has stimulated the economy and we see year-on-year the LPG market is growing in the country.”

“It is encouraging other downstream elements like tankage. So, we now have new tank farms in Port Harcourt coming up which we did not have before. And it is even going downstream into the retail market. I think recently in Lekki there was a canister factory that was set up, all on the back of the increased demand.”

Reports have it that the Nigerian LPG market has sustained its character as a fast growing market with Nigerians consumption rate jumping from about 80,000 metric tonnes per annum in 2008 to approximately 600,000 metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LPG in 2018, through about 15,000 retailers, trading 1,500,000 units of LPG cylinders and serving 1,500,000 households which makes up just five per cent of the total households in Nigeria.

The energy expert further disclosed that “That was always our intention to see how we can improve the per capita use of LPG in the market in Nigeria, which was one of the lowest in West Africa, which we thought that was not acceptable.”

“We are still not there yet but we are happy with the trajectory, every year-on-year we see growth. We are making more investment in that area in terms of looking at the supply chain, the ships that we bring to the market and every year we stretch ourselves and have increasing targets on what kind of volumes we want to deliver to the country. We are now delivering to two ports, to Port Harcourt and Lagos and we are looking at how we can continue to maximize that input into the local gas market.”    

Currently, the Nigeria LNG is playing a leading role in the LPG supply chain structure in Nigeria. It has the largest gas processing facility in Nigeria. The facility located in Bonny, Rivers State processes wet gas gathered from selected oil fields into Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) and Natural Gas (liquefied for export). LPG supplies from NLNG are delivered ex-ship and priced basis Mont Belvieu non-TET LPG indices.

As the company sustains its bent to fulfilling its mandate to provide 250,000MTPA to the local market, the regulatory authorities have currently reviewed that mandate upwards to 500,000MTPA because of increased local demand.

The NLNG’s efforts at satisfying the local LPG market are complimented by other major gas processing centres in the country including Mobil’s Oso facility in Bonny and Chevron’s Escravos facility both of which produce LPG chiefly for the export market.