Barring last minute hitches on the planned injection of about N150 million towards jetty upgrade in Apapa by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited, there are indications that ex-depot price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) which is cooking gas may drop 20 per cent.
Managing Director of NLNG, Mr. Tony Attah, explained during a facility tour of some LPG plants in Lagos, that dearth of infrastructure at jetties remained a factor responsible for skyrocketing prices of LPG.
The current ex-depot price of LPG at most plants in Apapa, Lagos, as at yesterday, was N3,000 for a 12.5kg cylinder size.
Attah was upbeat that on delivery of the upgrade, further crash of the ex-depot price from N3,000 to N2,400, representing a decrease of N20 per cent will be expected.
He explained that the N150 million intervention was for the rehabilitation of three jetties in Apapa, including Petroleum Wharf Apapa (PWA), New Oil Jetty (NOJ) and Bulk Oil Platform (BOP).
The NLNG boss averred that the company is focusing on more supply of LPG in a bid to deepen its usage in the country and decried the over 100,000 women die yearly from inhalation of smoke from dirty fuels.
Explaining the reason for the facility tour, Attah noted that the visit of the management of NLNG was to have first hand information on the state of facilities at the respective jetties and see ways of collaborating with investors to improve on supply to further crash prices.
According to him, “At NLNG, we stay committed to the development of Nigeria. So as part of our vision of helping to build a better Nigeria, we focus on energy, by helping to bring efficient energy into the country”.
He recalled that “In 2007, when there was a shortage of LPG in the market, NLNG intervened and we are glad to say that as a result of NLNG’s intervention, volume consumed has scaled up to over 250,000 tonnes and we are looking to scale the volume up more as the company has set aside 350,000 tonnes for the market”.
In his welcome address, Group Managing Director of NIPCO Plc, Mr. Venkataraman Venkatapathy, affirmed NLNG as the biggest producer of LPG locally that has played commendable role in supplying LPG for domestic consumption, stressing that NIPCO entered the industry 2009 as part of response to government’s drive to deepen LPG access through provision of infrastructure that could aid supply and usage by Nigerians.
