Stakeholders in the energy sector, yesterday, called for an end to the importation of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) given the country’s 206 trillion standard cubic feet natural gas deposit and the Central Banks of Nigeria’s (CBN) N250 billion interventions in the sector.
The stakeholders also condemned the continued export of LPG by Nigeria LNG Limited despite the huge domestic demand. The position comes amidst the return of many Nigerians to firewood, a development that poses health and environmental hazards, as gas price worsens, following the Russia-Ukraine war.
Although Nigeria has a decade of gas policy aimed at domestic utilisation and gas expansion plan, the country still imports over 55 per cent of LPG consumed in the country.
This has kept the price soaring in response to the international supply shock. As of last year, smaller African countries like Algeria, Equatorial Guinea and others contributed over 55 per cent of the country’s LPG imports.
Nigeria is ambitious of increasing domestic LPG consumption to five million metric tonnes (mmt) even as the country’s 206 trillion cubic feet deposit is yet to translate into benefits for the country.