The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) company has unveiled plans to increase its Liquefied Petroleum Gas (cooking gas) production by 50 per cent by the end of 2027 as part of its operational strategies to meet rising demand for cooking gas in the country.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company, Adeleye Falade, who hinted of the plan at the completion ceremony of the Asiko Energy Holdings Limited LPG and propane terminal in Ijora, Lagos, reported that the company’s domestic LPG production had significantly increased since it introduced cooking gas into the Nigerian market.
According to him, the company produced about 500,000 tonnes of LPG last year but the volume accounted for only about 40 per cent of the domestic LNG demand, indicating the need for increased supply and investment in infrastructure.
The Managing Director clarified: “We actually pioneered the introduction of cooking gas into Nigeria in 2005 when we started at 70,000 tonnes, and at that time we had 100 per cent of the market share. As of last year, we were already producing in-country 500,000 tonnes of LPG, but guess what? It’s now just about 40 per cent of the country’s demand.
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“This means demand is growing; it means we need to look for more opportunities in order for us to be able to bring the gas in”, he added.
Falade, who recalled that the company’s board decided in 2022 that 100 per cent of its retained LPG production would be supplied to the domestic market, despite the company’s export-oriented operations, maintained that the country’s major challenge remained not a lack of gas resources but inadequate infrastructure for distributing the commodity.
He said: “While we have the gas, one of the things that is also obvious to us is that we’re a country that is very deficit in infrastructure, and that’s the critical piece that Asiko Energy Holdings is filling.
“We’re also on the growth agenda. By next year, towards the end of next year, by God’s grace, we’ll be able to increase our capacity to produce more LPG by fifty per cent, and we trust that that will also help”, the expert assured.
This is even as he maintained that the additional production would require companies such as Asiko Energy to provide infrastructure capable of receiving and distributing the product to consumers, adding that “while we produce it, we need the likes of Asiko Energy to be able to take it and make sure that it touches the lives of the average Nigerian in a positive way.”
In his remarks at the event, the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Asiko Energy Holdings Limited, Felix Ekundayo, said the terminal was designed to receive a wider variety of LPG, including cheaper supplies that could be blended to meet the required specification for the Nigerian market.
The industry expert disclosed that the terminal was connected to three of the largest jetties used for LPG deliveries into Nigeria, enabling it to receive cargoes through multiple points.
Commenting on the latest plan of the NLNG’s management, tThe Divisional Head, Extractive Industries at the Bank of Industry (BoI), Nafisa Sambo, said the bank had supported the Asiko project for more than five years and would continue to do so in view of the socioeconomic benefits of improved LNG production to the country.
The banker said that the facility would contribute to energy security, job creation, and industrial development, while the bank remained committed to financing projects that expanded local value creation and strengthened Nigeria’s industrial base.
