BEN NDUBUWA
The Nigeria Liquified Petroleum Gas Association (NLPGA) has called on local and foreign investors to invest in the Nigerian gas sector as it is capable of providing over 6.5 million direct employment and export value of $7 billion annually.
This call by NLPGA to new investors is part of the push to create the awareness of the investment opportunities in the gas sector as the government with its new policy of subsidy removal on petrol has made gas the preferred alternative.
NLPGA is set to provide the opportunity through its 13th International Conference and Exhibition with the theme: LPG: Bridging The Energy Transition where key players in the gas sector will build capacity on unique financing, insurance Cover and other business enabling requirements for the sector.
Speaking on the upcoming conference in Lagos president of the Association, Felix Ekundayo, said the NLPGA, is encouraged by available data which provides that harnessing the country’s proven gas reserves for domestic utilisation can also support 6.5 million full time equivalent jobs yearly and annual export value of $7 billion.
Represented by Ladi Falola, deputy president of the Association, Ekundayo said that current estimates showed that economic activities stimulated by the domestic utilisation of Nigeria’s recoverable proven gas reserves has the potential to generate a Gross Value Add, GVA,of $18.3 billion yearly to the domestic economy and $10.5 billion through direct economic value addition with Liquified Petroleum Gas, LPG, contributing $1.3 billion and its excess allied components Propane and Butane contributing a further $2 billion.
He said through its sustained advocacy and intervention in collaboration with the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas, NLNG, supply of LPG grew from 60,000 metric tons, MT, in 2007 to over 1.3 million MT, in 2021 representing a growth of over 1,000 per cent.
The scheme he said has encouraged massive investments in LPG infrastructure and created over 150,000 jobs in the sector.
“The Energy Transition is unfolding in Nigeria and the NLPGA as it has done for several years at our past conferences shared the huge potentials and opportunities that lay with the usage of LPG” the president said, adding that the unification of the Naira with the new federal government’s foreign exchange policy will in the long run also help the gas industry with increased Foreign Direct Investment from investors who will be willing to exploit the opportunities available in the sector with the full confidence of being able to repatriate their profits.
He added that the need to further explore usage of LPG other than for cooking will further be thrown open with the rising cost of old fuels like petrol and diesel, alongside the rapidly increasing traditional form of energy generation through electricity as Service Based Tariffs for electricity guided by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, is expected to increase from reports based on reactions from floating of the Naira and a spike in inflation.
Ekundayo, said, however, to be able to cope with the increased awareness and demand for LPG, the Association is investing in Research and Development, R&D for the industry, as the Association at its 2022 conference to mark the Domestic LPG Supply Scheme formally unveiled its training resource center project which will provide over 30’areas of study in a curriculum based on the field of gas operations, usage safety and more.
(Financial Energy Review)
