The ex-depot price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) popularly called cooking gas is set to crash by about 20 per cent in the next few weeks.
The crash in the price of LPG may not be unconnected with the intervention of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited which plans to invest about ₦150 million towards jetty upgrade in Apapa.
Managing Director of NLNG, Mr. Tony Attah, explained during a facility tour of some LPG plants in Lagos yesterday, that dearth of infrastructure at jetties remained a factor responsible for skyrocketing prices of LPG.
Daily Sun findings revealed that the current ex-depot price of LPG at most plants in Apapa, Lagos, as at yesterday, was ₦3,000 for a 12.5kg cylinder size.
The intervention of NLNG may, however, further crash the ex-depot price from ₦3,000 to ₦2,400, representing a decrease of ₦20 per cent.
Attah explained that the ₦150 million intervention was for the rehabilitation of three jetties in Apapa, including Petroleum Wharf Apapa (PWA), New Oil Jetty (NOJ) and Bulk Oil Platform (BOP).
He maintained that as part of NLNG’s constant advocacy on helping to build a better Nigeria, it is focusing on more supply of LPG in a bid to deepen its usage in the country, lamenting that over 100,000 women die yearly from inhalation of smoke from dirty fuels.
He said the visit of the management of NLNG was to have first hand information on the state of facilities at the respective jetties and see ways of collaborating with investors to improve on supply to further crash prices.
“At NLNG, we stay committed to the development of Nigeria. So as part of our vision of helping to build a better Nigeria, we focus on energy, by helping to bring efficient energy into the country.
“In 2007, when there was a shortage of LPG in the market, NLNG intervened and we are glad to say that as a result of NLNG’s intervention, volume consumed has scaled up to over 250,000 tonnes and we are looking to scale the volume up more as the company has set aside 350,000 tonnes for the market,” he said.
Earlier in his remarks, the Group Managing Director of NIPCO Plc, Mr. Venkataraman Venkatapathy, affirmed NLNG as the biggest producer of LPG locally that has played commendable role in supplying LPG for domestic consumption.
He noted that the entry of NIPCO into the LPG business in 2009 was in apparent response to the call of Federal Government to improve LPG access through provision of infrastructure that could aid supply.