The Honorable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, H.E. Chief Timipre Sylva has declared 2020 as the year of Gas for the Nation. He made this known when he received the Executive Management of the Nigeria Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association (NLPGA) led by the Mr. Nuhu Yakubu, President of NLPGA.
The visit afforded the visiting team the opportunity to deeply explore the imperativeness for heightened Government involvement in shaping action plans to grow the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) industry as well as deepening the utilization of LPG in Nigeria. It may be recalled that amongst the key priorities of Chief Sylva, completion of the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme remains paramount with associated gas focused deliverables that include deepening domestic gas penetration and adoption amongst others.
Chief Sylva who commended the NLPGA for its recently concluded Annual LPG Conference and Exhibition, noted the importance of Safety and applauded NLPGA’s launch of the LPG Safety Check List, aimed at enthroning Self-Regulation on safe practices across the entire LPG value chain. The Honorable Minister further disclosed that plans are underway to mop up old and obsolete gas cylinders in circulation and replace them with brand new ones while noting the innovation that Techno Oil; a member of NLPGA, has brought to the table with its LPG Cylinder Manufacturing Plant. This has also granted the Company the ‘Pioneer Status’ which exempts it from paying tax on import of all raw materials for LPG cylinder production and will help to reduce the cost of production.
Mr. Nuhu Yakubu who is also the Managing Director/Group Chief Executive Officer of Banner Energy Limited, made a presentation, focused on Affordability, Accessibility, Acceptability and Availability of LPG. He expounded several solution focused strategies that when effectively implemented will not only demonstrate FG’s deep commitment in solidifying the sector but also ensure that LPG utilization becomes the norm. He noted that “LPG accessibility starts with cylinder distribution.”
The Technical Adviser on Gas Business and Policy Implementation to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Justice Derefaka in his statement, noted the high annual flare volumes of over 2 million tonnes of LPG. He further stated that when this is fully closed out by the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialisation Programme, it will effectively position Nigeria on the part to deepened domestic gas usage and adoption.
The NLPGA delegation comprised of the President, Nuhu Yakubu; Executive Secretary, Olakunle Oyebanjo; Kenneth O. Abazie (General Manager, Commercial, Techno Oil); Geoffrey Gideon (Northern Regional Manager, Banner Energy Limited) and Daniel Isiocha (AGM, Government Relations, Techno Oil).
Garba Deen Muhammad
GGM/Special Adviser on Media
Office of the Honorable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources
Abuja, Nigeria
24th December, 2019
