The Federal Government of Nigeria has declared that by switching to compressed natural gas, the country will cut its yearly imports of Premium Motor Spirit, or gasoline, by nearly $4.4 billion.
The announcement was made through the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, which also stated that the government’s goal was to convert one million gasoline and diesel vehicles to run on compressed natural gas, according to The Punch.
This was disclosed by the Coordinator, Regulations, Compliance and Facilitation of PCNGI, Zayyan Tambari in a presentation at the Co-Creation Session on Nigeria Gas Vehicle Monitoring System in Abuja on Tuesday, stating it will prevent Nigeria from importing PMS, saving the nation almost $4.4 billion a year.
According to Tambari, the goal of the federal government was to switch to compressed natural gas (CNG) for 20% of the nation’s daily consumption of 50 million liters of gasoline.
It was reported last week that the Federal Government had commenced the rollout of CNG-powered buses and tricycles.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had said that the Federal Government had initiated the deployment in Ilorin, Kwara State.
“There was a launch in Ilorin Kwara State by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazak. Ilorin launch was a refueling and conversion centre. CNG buses and tricycles were also unveiled. The CNG vehicle assemblers have begun the rollout, beginning from Ilorin.
“The inauguration started with a conversion centre before they unveiled some CNG buses and tricycles. They have not given a date for Abuja. But the process started today,” Onanuga said.
However, the PCNGI estimated that building infrastructure for the alternative fuel would cost roughly $890 million.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, who was represented by Abel Nsa, said the government will make sure Nigeria benefits fully from its gas resources.
“We are at the point where we need to begin to talk about the safety issues in the use of CNG. We have got to educate ourselves and we have got to use specific tools and materials hitherto that we have not been using.
He said “Recall what happened in 2009-2001 with the emergence of the cell phone during (former) President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime, from an economic perspective, a lot is going to happen. It is going to give us a lot of tools on how to utilise CNG.”
In his remarks, the Executive Director of Distribution System, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, Ogbugo Ukoha, said new gas stations won’t be granted licenses until they can offer CNG dispensing points.
“The authority is also engaging the stakeholders that would result in mandating fuel trucks and fleet owners and also facilities to convert to the use of CNG given the high cost of diesel,” he stated.
