Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) marketers have appealed to the Federal Government to address what it described as the galloping hike in the price of gas, saying the price instability remains a huge challenge to their business survival.
The marketers under the aegis of Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) said if nothing was done to the increasing prices, gas might soon be a commodity for the few rich in the society.
The National President NALPGAM, Mr Abideen Olatunbosun, made the appeal on Tuesday at the 36th Annual General Meeting (AGM)/Conference of the association.
The AGM themed “Expanding gas utilisation beyond imagination”, held at Jericho, Ibadan.
Olatunbosun said: “It is very vital for me to say that the galloping hike in the price of gas in the recent time stands as a big challenge to LPG marketers.
“The government needs to find ways to ensure the stability of gas price as well as make gas available to the common Nigerians. If nothing is done to the increasing in price, gas will soon be a commodity for the few rich in our society.
“As a country, we need to improve on our gas utilisation level. If we adopt gas, it will save our forest, improve quality of our lifestyle and the economy will grow. The hike in price of gas is a concern to all”.
In his lecture, the guest speaker, Prof. Sunday Isehunwa, identified changes in demand, changes in supply, natural gas production and consumption, changes in price and electricity pricing as some challenges facing LPG market in Nigeria.
He noted that LPG generators are becoming increasingly popular in Nigeria, hence the need for training and retraining of technical manpower required to do necessary upgrades and replacements.
He said despite the wide variety of uses of LPG, and the potential for massive market growth, there are a number of bottlenecks hindering large-scale increase in domestic LPG growth in Nigeria.
The Don listed some specific issues including; under-regulated retail market, shortage of LPG facilities and disorganized LPG cylinder value chain as requiring urgent attention of the government.
Noting that the removal of subsidies especially on kerosine, diesel and petrol should be sustained, the guest speaker emphasied that LPG offers a huge promise for increased domestic gas utilization in Nigeria and the country’s energy transition to net-zero carbon emission by 2060
He said “There is need for increased supply of LPG to meet rising demand and curtail sharp practices by some operators. The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has been the major supplier of LPG, but additional supplies are essential through functional refineries, adequate natural gas processing facilities, and removal of difficulties in importation when necessary.
“Infrastructure development will enhance access to LPG by rural communities. Accessibility will also increase through increased economic empowerment of consumers, and relatively low costs of products.
“The removal of subsidies especially on kerosine, diesel and petrol should be sustained. Security of supplies will be enhanced through improved general security in the nation and reduced pipeline vandalisation.
