R-L: Manager (Operations), Masheni Gabriel, with MD NIPCO Plc, Suresh Kumar; MD, NIPCO Gas Ltd, Nagendra Verma, and Manager LPG, Usman Adamu in Lagos.
Increased utilisation of natural gas will provide succour to Nigerians with the planned removal of subsidy on fuel supply come June this year, the Managing Director of NIPCO Plc, Suresh Kumar, has said.
Kumar who spoke at a joint news conference with MD NIPCO Gas Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, Nagendra Verma in Lagos at the weekend said gas
was fast becoming the preferred energy fuel across the world.
Kumar pointed out that effective utilisation of the nation’s abundant natural gas resources could be a panacea to mitigating the burden that would be associated with the eventual removal of fuel subsidy in the country.
Gas utilisation, he said, should be promoted through Piped Natural Gas (PNG), Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Auto Compressed Natural Gas (ACN), adding that this would also reduce importation of other fossil fuels, thereby saving foreign exchange for the country.
Kumar said NIPCO was at the forefront of the campaign for harnessing the country’s abundant gas resources to ensure healthy economic growth.
Also, he advocated the need for increased monetisation of indigenous natural gas in order to boost the growth of the nation’s economy and reduce unemployment.
“With the intention of the federal government to do away with fuel subsidy, natural gas by CNG and Auto CNG are bound to be a preferred “fuel of choice” due to safety, environment, economic and abundant availability reasons in Nigeria.
“NIPCO believes increased monetisation of indigenous natural gas will surely contribute heavily in betterment of the economic situation and employment in Nigeria,” Kumar said.
He expressed optimism that the federal government’s declaration of 2020-2030 as a “Decade of Gas” targeted at gas-powered economy of Nigeria by year 2030 under the Nigeria Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) project would certainly improve the utilisation of the nation’s natural gas resources and play a major role in improving her economy.
Kumar spoke on the utilisation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas in the country, saying its penetration in Nigeria was still being hampered by certain factors which fell short of the population of the country.
In recent times, he said foreign exchange scarcity was responsible for the rising cost of cooking gas in the country, urging the government to explore avenues to resolve the issue with a view to enabling more Nigerians to consume the product.
The MD of NIPCO said the company would continue to play prominent roles in the country’s oil and gas sector, by offering suggestions on how best to leapfrog the industry among its peers in the global market.
To him, NIPCO was ever ready to align with government policies to improve the sector as the company remained resilient on enormous growth opportunities in the Nigerian economy .
