Despite soaring cooking gas prices, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), said the market has continued to grow beyond expectations.
The Federal Government has officially scrapped the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF).
In a statement signed by the General Manager, Corporate Services, PPPRA, Kimchi Apollo, the organisation stated that Nigeria presently produces a major portion of the LPG consumed in the country locally, stressing that the so-called “Decade of Gas”, remains on track.
It will also be recalled that, globally, oil prices hit their highest level in years yesterday as a result of gas-to-oil switching. This is as power generators are turning away from expensive gas and coal to fuel oil and diesel.
Consequently. Brent crude oil futures rose 63 cents, or 0.7 per cent to $85.49 a barrel after hitting a session-high of $86.04, the highest price since October 2018.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 95 cents, or 1.2 per cent to $83.23 a barrel, after hitting a session-high of $83.73, highest since October 2014.
Both contracts rose by at least three per cent last week.
The “growth” in the sector, the PPPRA stated, was because of the “enabling environment created by the federal government through its programmes and policies to attract investment into the entire gas value chain.”
The PPPRA stated that its assessment of LPG supplied in September 2021, indicated that out of the 76,578.986 metric tonnes of LPG supplied nationwide, 49,453.081mt was locally produced while 27,125.905mt was imported.
In the month of September 2021, it stated that the LPG data showed that 49,453.081MT was supplied into the domestic market by Algasco, Stockgap, NIPCO, 11 plc, Prudent, Greenville Natural Gas, PNG Gas, NPDC and Ashtavinayak Hydrocarbon Ltd with 66.58 per cent of the supply sourced from the NLNG, while 27,125.905 mt was imported by Rainoil, Algasco and Prudent.
“It is worthy to note that the quantity of LPG sourced locally rose from 38,040.457mt in August to 49,453.081mt in September, while importation reduced from 47,224.346mt to 27,125.905mt.
“The marked improvement in local production reflects the success of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre
Sylva in providing the right enabling business climate for the gas industry to thrive,” it stated.
PPPRA stressed that policies and programmes such as the National Gas Policy (NGP), Nigeria Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme (NGFCP), National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) and the Decade of Gas declaration were responsible for the quantum of investments in the gas industry currently.
