The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has engaged petroleum products, marketers, on the sale of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for fueling power generating plants and vehicles respectively.
A source, who sought anonymity, told The Nation at the weekend that “the head of the gas subsector of the NNPC is hosting us (petrol retail stations) owners in Lagos. They want us to be selling LPG and CNG for generators and vehicles in our petrol stations. ”
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, had promised to provide alternatives to the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) petrol for poor Nigerians.
His estimate was that the CNG is N97 per litre.
The uprising against the September petrol pump price further spurred the Federal Government to announce its plans for calibrating vehicles and power generating plants for gas fueling free of charge in October.
On Thursday, he carried out the inspection of the Autogas Dispensing Station and conversion exercise in Abuja.
It was also in line with the promise of intensifying efforts to provide Nigerians with Autogas to temper the effects of rising PMS costs in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to ushering in the epoch of gas as a better fuel for Nigerians.
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Executive Executive Secretary, Abdulkadir Saidu in a statement, said the Autogas Dispensing Station and Conversion Inspection Exercise took place at the NNPC Autogas Dispensing facility Jahi and Autolady Garage in Abuja, where some government official vehicles were being converted.
The Minister, according to him, expressed his satisfaction with the conversion process thus far and charged conversion centers to make vehicle and user safety a priority during the process. He added that his vehicles and some in the President’s fleet would soon be converted as well.
Also present at the inspection was the Executive Secretary, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Mr. Abdulkadir Saidu, who stated that the government will ensure that autogas will soon be made available to people all over the country.
“Nigerians can rest assured of the Government’s undying commitment to providing a cheaper and cleaner alternative to PMS, as prices have been on an upward climb in recent months following the deregulation of the downstream sector.
“Aside from the fact that autogas is cheaper, we are also concerned about making the conversion of cars affordable so that Nigerians can indeed reap the advantage of this new policy,” he said.
The PPPRA Boss after the inspections also said that some filling stations across the country were already keying into the plan by adding Autogas dispensers to their stations.
He urged Nigerians to embrace Autogas as gas-powered vehicles are cheaper and environmentally friendly than any other fuel available on the market today.
He also noted that the majority of vehicles built in the last two decades were well suited to conversion for dual-fuel applications, therefore safe for all Nigerians willing to convert their vehicles. (The Nation)
