Buhari: Nigeria close to self-sufficiency in liquefied petroleum gas production

President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria is on the verge of being self-sufficient in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) production.

Buhari was speaking on Tuesday while inaugurating the Integrated Gas Handling Facility (IGHF) and the LPG Storage and Dispensing Unit built and operated by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), an upstream subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Edo state.

A statement issued by Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, quoted Buhari as saying the Oredo IGHF and its associated NGLs depot will be delivering 240,000 metric tons of commercial grade LPG and propane.

It will also deliver about 205 million standard cubic feet of lean gas to the domestic market daily.

“In addition to its import substitution benefits that brings us a step closer to self-sufficiency in LPG production and also supporting the growth of small and medium enterprises in the host communities, this project will create hundreds of direct and indirect employment opportunities for our teeming youths (both skilled and unskilled), ” Buhari said.

“Apart from being the largest onshore LPG plant in Nigeria with the potential of supplying about 20% of Nigeria’s LPG demand, the Oredo Integrated Gas Handling Facility was carefully situated at a corridor proximate to over 80% of Nigeria’s LPG demand source.”

The president also said the project was a follow-up to the commitment of the administration towards making 2020 as Nigeria’s Year of the Gas.

He noted that the gas facility has contributed to the ongoing drive towards providing alternative auto fuel under the National Gas Expansion Program (NGEP) initiative.

“At the turn of the Year 2020, this Administration made solemn declarations to the Nigerian public over its plans to expand the gas sector footprints by scaling-up the development and utilisation of Nigeria’s abundant Natural Gas Resources to help spur industrialization, provide clean and efficient energy for transportation and household use while increasing our exports into the international market. It is on the backdrop of this commitment that the Year 2020 was dedicated and embodied as Nigeria’s Year of Gas,” Buhari said.

“Since then, we have followed through with actions that have translated those plans into tangible projects with monumental value additions to the Nigerian Economy. We accomplished key gas infrastructure projects like the OB3 and ELPS 2 and flagged-off the Construction Phase of the 614 km AKK Pipeline Project.” 

On his part, Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources, said the project affirms the efforts of the NNPC and federal government (FG) in boosting domestic supply of LPG and eliminating gas flaring in the country.

Mele Kyari, group managing director (GMD) of NNPC, said Buhari had issued directives to the corporation and ministry of petroleum resources that “we must deepen domestic gas utilisation and monetisation and provide a platform where Nigerians can benefit from the enormous gas supplies that we have so that job and prosperity can be created and by implication, bring peace to the country.”

The gas facility, he added, was designed and constructed by a Nigerian company, thereby demonstrating the capacity of indigenous companies to handle complex projects.