To improve domestic consumption of gas, Nigeria will consume two million metric tons of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) by 2025, Matric Energy Limited’s Chief Marketing Manager, Mrs. Toyin Sowumi, has said. She said the development became imperative to enable Nigeria equal other countries, where LPG’s use is recognised as a healthy source of cooking.
According to her, LPG production would be boosted in the country when consumption increases from 600 metric tonnes per annum to 2,000 metric annually. Speaking during a programme titled: ‘Meet Your Customers’ Forum’ in Warri, Delta State, she said Matrix Energy supplies 30 per cent of LPG distribution in the country, adding that the firm has deployed 65 LPG trucks to deliver to customers in various parts of the country.
Sowunmi said: ‘’To achieve the target of taking the LPG consumption rate in Nigeria from about 600 metric tons per annum to around 2 million by 2025, the company has deployed 65 LPG trucks to deliver to its customers in different parts of the country and planning to procure more for easy distribution of product, about 30 per cent supplies of LPG distribution across Nigeria with an intent for an increase.’’
According to her, the forum was meant to deepen the interest of many people in the product, adding that the firm is supporting the on-going climate change campaign in Nigeria and beyond. She said the issue of reduction in greenhouse emission is key to the growth of the people, adding that the firm will not relent in its efforts to make the campaign a success in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), he said, affirmed that LPG is the cleanest source of energy, stressing that it is a good development for the country where 66 per cent of its population uses firewood and has the tendency to change to LPG. Similarly, Matrix Energy’s Terminal Manager, Mr Raphael Biu, said Matrix Energy is working to ensure the needs of the people are met, adding that the firm is committed to the growth of LPG usage in the country.
He said LPG consumption in Nigeria is 600 metric tonnes ( about 2 kilogramme per capital), compared to Ghana (4.3 kilogramme) and Sierra Leone (9 kilogramme) per capital, stressing that the Federal Government is working to ensure that Nigerians consume 2 million metric tonnes of LPG by 2025.
Also, the Nigerian Association of LPG Marketers (NALGAM) president, Ogieva Nosakhare Okunbo, has urged the government to provide a friendly environment for LPG production, adding that the development would help boost consumption. He also urged the government to devote the subsidy on the importation of kerosene to producing more cylinders, noting that if the government is committed to injecting five million cylinders, yearly into the system for five years, gas will become the most commonly used source of energy in Nigeria.
“Another way forward is for the Federal Government to redirect the subsidy dedicated to kerosene now to the production of cylinders. If we inject five million cylinders each year for five years to the system, gas will become the most commonly used source of energy; for cooking, power automobile, power some other things. Statistics have shown that nothing less than 5,500 persons die daily globally from the use of solid fuel. That is indoor pollution from the use of dirty fuel for cooking,” he said. The Nation
Pix: Cooking gas
