The Minister of State (Gas) Resources, Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, on Thursday disclosed that the Federal Government had stopped the issuance of licences to gas companies lacking the capability to construct pipelines for distribution.
Ekpo stated this following last Saturday’s gas explosion in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, involving a compressed natural gas (CNG) truck owned by Gasco Marine, which claimed one life and destroyed many vehicles and other assets.
The minister on his arrival in the state capital where he was received by Ogun Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, and his deputy, Mrs. Noimot Salako-Oyedele, disclosed that President Bola Tinubu sent him on assessment trip to investigate the primary cause of the accident and also to convey his condolence to the people in the state.
According to him, while the country needs to transition from fossil to CNG, he had instructed the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, to stop issuing licences to companies that cannot facilitate their operations with pipelines for safe delivery of gas to end users.
The Minister explained: “As the Federal Government, we are trying all that we can to ensure we reduce virtual transportation of gas because of the volatility of it, especially with the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline.
“I have directed the authority’s chief executive that for any further issuance of licence of licence, the company should be competent enough to pipe it to their end users so that we are not exposed to this kind of danger any longer.
“As a ministry, we are looking at how we can reduce a lot of virtual conveyance of gas. That is why we are putting much in developing the gas pipeline infrastructure so that transportation would not be virtual, but rather through pipelines. That will reduce this kind of incident and take off the pressure on our roads”, Ekpo added.
Despite the unfortunate incident, the minister spoke on the advantages of gas over fossil fuel in view of its environment-friendliness and urged Nigerians not to be discouraged in the face of some reported incidents.
He said: “This is better than even fuel if you look at what happened in Port Harcourt where lives were lost and so many vehicles burnt. It is still better we go this route.”
