BY Bunmi Aduloju
The federal government has directed marketers to include compressed natural gas (CNG) pumps in retail stations nationwide.
Farouk Ahmed, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), gave the directive during a meeting with suppliers of petroleum products on May 14 in Abuja.
“We will require that CNG add on to be put in point of the petrol stations. And the new applications will be one of the requirements that you must have a CNG add on in your petrol station,” he said
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Ahmed said potential retail licensees would now be required to establish a CNG point in their filling stations before receiving final approval from the government.
“We also discussed the CNG revolution and our collective effort to ensure that we reduce the burden on the economy by having an alternative to PMS which is very costly especially due to exchange rate fluctuations and instability,” he said.
“We are looking at gas because we have it in abundance, we have over 200 trillion cubic feet of gas. All we need is to harness the industry to produce, invest and be good for the consumer and CNG is the way to go.”
Ahmed said the addition of CNG at petrol stations would provide easy access to consumers.
“But of course, we have to address the supply side and we are working with the producing companies; our sister agency, NUPRC; and NNPC Limited as well as Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN) to ensure that the product is also available at a competitive cost to the consumers,” Ahmed said.
He added that the regulatory authorities plan to lessen the burden of the importation and consumption of petrol.
“We explored the possibility of converting the energy requirement of retail outlets and depots by the stakeholders (here) going into solar. But of course, there is a high entry cost and we have discussed that and it is going to be in phases,” Ahmed said.
“By doing so, we will reduce the demand for diesel in terms of powering our generators by utilising solar options.”
On May 13, the federal executive council (FEC) said all new vehicles, generators or tricycles procured by the government and its agencies must be powered by CNG or solar.
‘WE’LL NOT SET PRICE FOR DANGOTE REFINERY’
Ahmed said the federal government would not set the price of petroleum products from the Dangote refinery.
“NMDPRA will not determine how much it is sold or how much you are buying. It is their own decision to go to Dangote refinery and purchase, and for Dangote refinery to determine the price they sell,” he said.
As a regulator, Ahmed said NMDPRA is more interested in ensuring the nation is well supplied.
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