The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is set to launch the largest Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Propane storage and dispensing facility in Oredo, Edo state, with the capacity to dispense 330 tonnes of LPG (commonly known as cooking gas) daily.
The NNPC in partnership with its subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited (NPDC) is designing the facility to serve as an extension of the Integrated Gas Handling Facility (IGHF). It is expected to handle the 100 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (MMscfg/d) and over 260 Barrels per day condensate from the IGHF plant.
This development was disclosed in a statement by NNPC spokesman, Mr Ndu Ughamadu, in Abuja on Sunday. It was also explained that apart from the capacity to dispense 330 tons of LPG, the facility is capable of dispensing about 300 tons of propane daily.
The statement highlighted the anticipated economic impact of the facility, stating that Mr Yusuf Matashi, Managing Director of NPDC described the IGHF as a game changer of the national oil company. It is expected that both facilities (IGHF and LPG bay) will be a huge revenue stream for the country when commissioned. Matashi assured that before the end of 2019 NPDC will be producing 40 percent of the nation’s LPG requirements.
According to the NPDC boss, the facility was centrally positioned to supply LPG to Lagos, South-South; South-East and to the North in order to grow its consumption across the country. He revealed that NPDC is the single largest gas supplier to the domestic market, and is responsible for supplying about 90 percent of gas required to drive power generation in Nigeria.
“We are paying greater focus on our 100 percent assets production. NPDC assets will deliver a lot in terms of meeting its (crude oil and gas) volume targets,” Matashi also said in the statement. He added that NPDC currently contributes 10 percent to daily national production and by the end of 2019, the company is looking at a 15 percent contribution to daily national production.
Matashi further disclosed that the company has an oil reserve base of 3.6 billion barrels and gas reserve of 15 trillion cubic feet from its involvement in 29 concessions, 22 Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) and 7 Oil Prospecting Licenses (OPLs). According to him, the production outlook for 2019/2020 was on the bright side. He also added that the company was aggressively pursuing its drilling and field development programmes as approved by the management of NNPC.
He stressed that the company maintained cordial relations with regulatory agencies, such as the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and had maintained its remittance of royalties and Petroleum Profit Tax to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
One way or the other, the launch of this new facility will have significant impacts on the country. Besides providing jobs for Nigerians right from its development stage, its large dispensing capacity and strategic location will boost the supply of gas to the domestic market. With the ease of logistics, the prices of gas could reduce and this will lessen the cost burden for individuals and businesses alike.
