The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) announced its plans on Tuesday to secure a reduction in cooking gas costs, despite public concerns over inflation.
Mele Kyari, the NNPC Group Managing Director, said the high price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) was due to the growing price of crude oil and its derivatives on the global market.
He said this in Abuja during the opening of Emadeb Energy Services Limited’s 120MT LPG Storage and Bottling Plant.
He did, however, reassure Nigerians that the NNPC Limited was working around the clock to increase LPG supply and bring the price down.
Kyari said, “Two things are at play; one is the supply and the other is the international price of gas. It (price) moves with the price of every other petroleum product including crude oil and its derivatives. So it is a reflection of what is happening in the international market.
“What we are doing is to increase supply. Once the supply is increased the prices will come down.”
The newly inaugurated LPG facility, according to the NNPC GMD, will “reduce the cost of energy for Nigerians because LPG is cheaper than any other product you can think of, especially as cooking fuel.”
He praised Emadeb Energy Services Limited for constructing the LPG facility in Abuja, saying the initiative was in line with the Federal Government’s efforts to deliver gas to its citizens.
Kyari said: “We are aware that a lot of institutions and companies are doing this across the country. We are selecting this in line with Mr. President’s objectives to make this the decade of gas.”
He also mentioned that the global energy transformation has created a highly favorable investment atmosphere for gas.
“We know that the investment climate is very ripe for auto-gas and auto fuel, especially in terms of LPG as a transition fuel globally. So, we know that this is a big market for Nigerian companies and this is one of the great companies that we have around.
“As NNPC, we will come in and we will guarantee supply. That is very important for us as a business. As you are aware, we are NNPC Limited in Nigeria and we also have to make money for Nigeria. We will be there in the upstream to provide the gas.”
