NMDPRA encourages stakeholders to exploit opportunities of Gas value chain

 

.Reiterate Plans to Push for Sustainable Gas Utilization in Nigeria

 

The Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has encouraged stakeholders to take advantage and opportunities in gas value chain for sustainable business growth.

 

Mr Ogbugo Ukoha, the Executive Director of NMDPRA, Distribution System, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, made the call at the stakeholders engagement on gas utilisation in Nigeria on Monday in Yola.

 

Ukoha, who was represented by Mr Yusuf Sheriff, NMDPRA Regional Controller, Maiduguri, appreciated the stakeholders for attending the forum.

 

He said the objective of the engagement is to enlighten end-user category on the need to urgently obtain the requisite petroleum storage license and to engender the transition from white products to gas at last mile.

 

Mr Elvis Duriji, NMDPRA’s Head of Gas, said ‘gas is acceptable all over the world, it is accessible, affordable and by its nature is clean than diesel’.

 

He also discouraged them from illegal operations for a successful and sustainable business growth in the sector.

 

In his goodwill message, Alhaji Aminu Adamu, North East Zonal Chairman of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), commended NMDPRA for carrying them along for the engagement.

 

He expressed the need for the agency to simplify the message in local languages for easy understanding as most of the members were not literate.

 

According to him, this will help to accelerate the understanding of the message towards achieving the goals of the engagement and for their members to key in to the system.

 

Prof. Sanusi Ibrahim, the Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, said the conversation is a welcome development as they used 33,000 liters of diesel in a month to power generator.

 

“I am very sure and hopeful if sufficient information is taken to community level and other stakeholders at the lower level everybody will embrace it,” he said.

 

According to him, he understands that the gas is of less cost, effective, easy to manage and free from some of the risks associated with diesel and other petroleum products.

 

The  stakeholders were drawn from the North East states of Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.

 

In a related develepoment, the NMDPRA says “We want the heaviest users of diesel to bring themselves within the regulatory space as well as consider converting to gas as their source of fuel. This is because gas is cheap and ultimately a cleaner source of energy. We want everyone to begin to see gas as the transition fuel.”

 

These are the desires of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), engaging stakeholders to deepen the use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LPG) in the country, during a meeting with stakeholders in the midstream and downstream sector in Port Harcourt with theme “Stakeholders Engagement on Gas Utilization in Nigeria”.

 

The Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage and retailing Infrastructure, NMDPRA Ogbugo Ukoha said that this would reduce the nation’s carbon footprint, tackle global warming as well as climate change.

 

“It will also help to reposition the economy for sustainable growth and accelerate job creation since gas is believed to be the future of the nation’s economy.”

 

“So, to actualize this, we have met with stakeholders in Lagos, Enugu and we are now in Port Harcourt to actualize this shift. Next stop is Yola, Kano and Abuja

 

Ukoha said the Federal Government had taken steps to ensure that businesses and companies in Nigeria move from diesel to gas as an alternative source of energy.

 

“However, the Federal Government has in the last few years come up with programmes such as the Gas Expansion, and the Decades of Gas Programmes to bridge this gap.”

 

“Also, the Petroleum Industry Act, established within NMDPRA as a gas infrastructure fund, to enable more investments within this value chain and see that gas is delivered cheap to Nigerians, he said.”

 

Also speaking, the Chairman of Rivers State branch of the Petroleum Product, Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Francis Dimkpa, commended NMDPRA for taking steps to expand LPG utilization in the country.

 

“We are happy that Nigeria has taken a major step toward deepening gas utilization and penetration in the country.

 

“However, there are still several challenges bedeviling the industry that range from regulation issues; policy summersault; high cost of doing business and access to facilities, among others.

 

“NMDPRA wants us to move from diesel to gas but this can be fast achieved if we use local technologies to solve our local needs,”

 

“The adoption of local technologies for use in the industry would bring down the cost of doing business, and as such, crash the price of LPG in the country,” he said.

 

On his part, Rivers State Chapter Chairman of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers, NUPENG branch, Innocent Oparaodu said it is difficult for some people especially in the rural areas to afford the cooking gas because of the cost.

 

He urged the Authority to review the pricing of cooking gas to attract more utilization and penetration.

 

He also appealed to NMDPRA to sanction all illegal LPG skid operators within their operational cycle to create opportunities for legitimate marketers.